Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Destiny
by TrainerNaps
Summary: An era of peace, three centuries long, is about to end. An ancient evil stirs, one thought to have been destroyed thrice before. Its quarry: the fabled Crown of Destiny, which has the power to bend the universe to the bearer's will. A group of brave Pokemon must make a stand, and prevent their world from falling once again into darkness. They must achieve their ultimate destiny.
1. Chapter 1: Watcher's Perch

**Hey everyone, it's TrainerNaps, with he launch of my newest story, and my first ever Mystery Dungeon fanfic, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Destiny! There's a little info I think you should no in the Author's Note at the end, but for now, sit back and enjoy!**

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_Destiny is not a matter of chance; but a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved- _William Jennings Byran

Many throughout history have argued this point.

Few have had a say.

In the beginning, there was chaos. But amidst that chaos came order with the birth of Arceus. From the untamed maelstrom of chaos that occupied all things was born a god, who used his unparalleled power to create order.

And so the universe as we know it was born.

But the restoration of order can only be a temporary remedy to a grievous wound, for chaos is like a virus. It will fester and grow, even after decimation to the lowest degree.

And so Arceus created the Grand Plan.

The Grand Plan was a means for all life to exist as it should: orderly. Everything had been written, so that it could not be undone.

Arceus then went on to crown the avatars of order, to keep the achieved balance from collapsing in on itself once more.

From one came three, to maintain order. Space began to expand. Time began to flow. And darkness and light were balanced; matter and dark matter kept their distance.

And for a time, it was peaceful. The Grand Plan worked.

Until one became unsatisfied of its role in the Grand Plan. It struck out suddenly in violence to try and alter the Grand Plan to its favor.

It was ultimately stopped, and banished to a place so far away, no amount of travel could ever reach it.

But this victory came at a cost.

The Grand Plan became corrupted, and so it could no longer dictate all things.

It only saw a means to balance good and evil, and an end.

Once again, the darkness rose up against the light. A new threat sought to alter the Grand Plan. And was defeated, banished into the shadows.

But once again, the Grand Plan was corrupted. Now, evil openly sought to consume good.

Now, all the Grand Plan saw was an end.

And so to keep the cold hands of darkness from consuming the light, The Crown of Destiny was forged. The crown had the power to alter the Grand Plan, folding its pages to allow for change to occur. It was this device that kept the chaos from once again seizing the universe.

The Grand Plan had become a mere shadow of what it once was, what it was intended to be. But the crown now had the power to openly change that. To openly change fate.

A new threat arose. A mighty being with a heart of ice, and intentions to do nothing more than to bring ruin rose up to seize the crown. With a physical item to obtain this time around, victory seemed at hand for the forces of evil.

But the Grand Plan finally paid off. The good of the world, the Pokémon that saw happy times under the sun, under the Grand Plan, came to action to defend that which was made to protect them. And so the Army of Light came to be.

But the Cold One had allies as well. Those who sought power. Those who weren't content with what they were already given. And so the Shadow Alliance came to be.

And so light and darkness finally faced each other in open combat. Both sides fought fiercely; both sides had so much to lose.

Nowhere was safe from the bloodshed. And no matter how the Army pushed the Alliance, there always seemed to be one last patch of shadow they had missed, which would once again grow into a threat, twice the size of the last.

And so all options were exhausted. A decision was made by the leaders of the Pokémon. A great sacrifice was going to have to be made.

A strategic retreat was made to the continent of Poképangea, where mystics forged The Gate, a monument imbued with the power to repel evil.

The Castle of Destiny, which held the Crown of Destiny, was moved to Poképangea, as losing battles for the Army of Light raged across its soil as a distraction. Once the move was complete, the plan came to action.

On the east side of The Gate rested the Castle of Destiny, on the other side of The Gate. The Army of Light made it seem like they were the remnants of a task force sent to guard The Gate, and that the rest of their forces had been sent to the Castle of Destiny itself. The Army of Darkness arrived in force, ready to crush their opponents and make for the castle.

It was a trap.

The Army of Light wasn't actually defending The Gate. They were acting as bait as the rest of their allies closed in the Alliance from all sides. From there, it was a simple push.

Those who were still truly evil, who served the Cold One, were pushed beyond The Gate. And the Cold One became vulnerable.

You see, the Cold One gained his power from the very evil that radiated from his men. The very desire to smother out all light was what made him strong.

Behind the enchanted Gate, these evils were suppressed, and so the Cold One became weak.

He, and the Castle of Destiny, were sealed away, so that mortal Pokémon would never be able to interfere with either, ever again. The Sword Towers were erected to maintain their seal.

And once again, peace reigned. Although much of the world, especially Poképangea, was scarred, prosperity finally shined through the darkness that had blanketed them for so long.

The third century of said peace has passed.

But the balance of peace once again teeters. Pokémon must once again rise up and face the evil that threatened their very existence once again.

To stop the Cold One once and for all, these Pokémon must face their ultimate destinty.

…

Watcher stood on the edge of his cliff, as he always did. Unmoving, unflinching, unblinking, he stared out onto the horizon, watching absolutely everything that his perch would allow. Watcher saw all; from the dense Bramblethorne Forests, to the great Lake Taliki. From the Grey Coast to the far west, to the rocky Forbidden Terrain to the east. His view ended to the extreme east at The Gate. Many things ended at The Gate.

His colleges would sometimes argue to him that the Watchtower got a better view of the lands, but the Xatu preferred this solitary arrangement. Nice and quiet. But Watcher relished occasional companionship.

Though those he asked to spend time with him might say otherwise…

Xatu were rare in this part of the continent. On this continent as a whole, actually. Even so, Watcher stood out from the rest. It was in fact a habit of Xatu to be socially awkward and simply stand alone for days, even weeks.

But that wasn't the thing that set Watcher apart.

On their natural feathered cloaks, Xatu are known to have intricate patterns of red, black, and yellow on their flat, front wings. But Watcher had different markings.

Intricate purple lines laced across the surface of his wings, the center of both containing a painted eye.

It was sometimes common for females of the species to decorate their wings. Males, not so much. But Watcher needed to assure he was set apart from the rest.

The faint sound of footsteps disrupted Watcher's quiet air. Watcher did not stir; he remained as still as before.

The Alakazam stopped a few feet shy of him. He was stern, stoic, his appearance just leaked the fact that he meant business and business only. No time for games. No time for small talk.

His golden furred moustache hung down from his snout, almost passing his knees. As all Alakazam did, he carried with him his two metal spoons.

But he did have something that set him apart from fellow Alakazam. On the natural armor on his back, like Watcher, he had purple paint decorating it, with similar laced patterns, with and eye painted on the back, as well as on his shoulder pads. Same went for his knee pads.

"Watcher," he spoke suddenly in a deep, sullen voice. "Why is it that you have summoned me here?"

Watcher remained silent and unmoving. The Alakazam growled. Just a few seconds and his time was already being drizzled away by this nutty bird.

"Watcher!"

"The sun is setting," the Xatu put simply. It was one of the dumbest things a person could say, "The sun is setting," but he didn't say it idly of dreamily. The tone of his voice was serious. Deadly so, in fact.

"I-Is that it? Because my time is valuable, Watcher, I-"

"The sun is setting."

Alakazam's shoulders hunched. His grip tightened around his spoons. "You just said that, and if this is a joke, it wasn't funny the first time!"

"Do you know what time it is?"

Now this just sent Alakazam off guard. He relaxed a bit. "How am I supposed to know? The sun is setting, like you so kindly pointed out, so it is twilight. Meaning that nighttime approaches. That's all I need to know."

Watcher was silent for another moment. "It is currently 7:10," the Mystic Bird said softly, still not having the decency to turn and face his company. "It is summer. The earliest the sun as ever set on average is 7:15 during the summer. Something is wrong."

Alakazam sighed, and his right hand slowly moved to clutch his forehead. Even super-genius Psychic-Types like Alakazam were prone to migraines. "Watcher, the sun is setting _five minutes early!_" Alakazam unconsciously moved a bit closer to Watcher.

"Oh, why not just call the rest of the Council?" he said in a silly, mocking voice. "Waste their time too!"

"I've already called for them," said Watcher, not even in a way to say "In your face!" but just as calm as before. "Grace is currently gathering them."

Alakazam raised one of his spoons, and prepared to let loose a fit of yelling, when a shadow fell across his legs. He looked down to see and Espeon curling up on a rock beside him, soaking up the last bits of the fading sun. On her forehead was a small amount of purple paint, dark enough to show on her fur. The patterns surrounded the gem on her forehead, which was painted to look like an eye.

"Hello, Watcher. Oz, how are you?"

"I'm fine," growled the Alakazam, "What _isn't _fine, on the other hand, is Watcher deciding to waste my time."

The Espeon #!*% her head to the side, he ears flopping to the side as well. "Oh, how so?"

"The sun is setting _five minutes early!_"

"It's only 7:10?"

"Actually, it is now 7:11, but I admire you're catching on, Aurora," said Watcher, still not turning.

Aurora turned to Oz and grinned. Oz simply shook his head and turned back to Watcher.

"Well, I _am _the Sun Pokémon." She stretched herself out on the rock, flicking her tail back and forth. "I'm not as good as any of the other Espeon I used to know, however."

"Watcher, I insist you call off this meeting!" said a furious Oz. Even though he was a senior member of the Council, he knew that all members had an undisputed right to call a meeting, and no one could say otherwise.

However, if those in attendance decided that the meeting was unnecessary, and called intentionally so, the one who "Cried Mightyena" could be expelled from the Council. And although Watcher irked him on so many levels, Oz was a fair Pokémon, and he didn't want to see anyone expelled over something as trivial as the sunset.

"And I insist we hold the meeting. We could get to the bottom of this. Besides, some of these old Zubats could use something to do."

Watcher very rarely made sarcastic remarks or jokes, and so if he was implying that this meeting was just a joke, or for the purpose of giving the other Councilors something to do, than Oz promised himself that he would personally oust Watcher when the vote to kick him out was over.

"All of the Councilors have very important work to go about day in and day out!" protested Oz, shaking his spoon-clenching fist at Watcher. "We don't have time to watch the sun set!"

"I think I've gotta agree with Watcher on this one," said Aurora, "You're getting' a little lazy, old timer." She tapped Oz's belly with her tail.

"My job is the safekeeping of the Lookout, and all of its mystic-"

"I thought that was Legions' job." Aurora grinned slyly. At this point, Oz was fuming. He turned briskly on his heels and left, walking back the way he came.

"Summon me when everyone arrives." He continued walking, grumbling, "Hail the Eye," only as loud as it needed to be for them to hear.

"May it ever watch," Aurora and Watcher chorused.

Aurora stretched and yawned again, hopping down off of the rock and landing on all four of her paws. She looked up at Watcher.

"Same here, Watcher. I'm going back as well. See you at the meeting."

Watcher nodded, acknowledging her. She deserved as much. After all, she hadn't been shouting in his ear the whole time. She padded away slowly.

_Something is coming_, Watcher thought to himself. Without even having to turn, his eyes flicked to the right; to the east. Storm clouds were gathering. Same with the left; the west. Storms.

It seemed that right now the center of this half of Poképangea was the only part not about to be soaked.

But nowhere would be safe from getting wet forever.

And water wouldn't be the only thing soaking the soil.

* * *

**I am just so excited for this story! So much planned for you guys already!**

**So, here's the deal. This may not have been the most exciting hook in a story I've written, but then again, I usually go for mystery to start things off instead of action, but things will be heating up pretty quickly. The main characters'll be coming in real soon, so hang tight.**

**On the subject of characters, I love how OCs are involved in a lot of Mystery Dungeon stories, and I feel like my world would be so much more alive if I got some from the good people who read! So, before I give the forms, I'd just like to establish a few things.**

**So, before I say anything, I'd just like to establish that I'm not telling you what to do; I'm not trying to be the director shouting things out of his megaphone. I want you guys to be as open ended and creative as possible! If you think of something, don't say, "Oh, that might be going too far..." Wow me! Make me want to incorporate this into my story, because I will! **

**If you send me an OC, whether it be in a review or a PM (don't worry if you're an anonymous poster. Everyone can submit) I'm gonna try to communicate the best I can as to what I plan on doing with them (spoiler free, of course. It wouldn't be fun the other way). **

**I can't wait to see what ya'll come up with, but here are a few things I kinda want. Again, go wild on your own, but here's just kind of a wish list of characters that I'd like. **

**Exploration Teams (of course. We need them)**

**Members of "The Council" (Just think: who would be a part of a mysterious, secret organization that decides and votes on mysterious, secret things that could ultimately shake the foundation of the Earth.)**

**Just regular townsfolk (Sometimes, the most creativity can come from normal life.)**

**And please note I need heroes AND villains, so don't be afraid to send some in. And their alignment can be anywhere in between. As for "hero" they can range from valiant guardian of justice to just a nice guy, or anywhere in between! Same for villain: they could be the scourge of the universe, down to petty thief, down to random jerk on the street! Or they could be unaligned, confused in their morals. Anywhere in between!**

**Okay, here's the form! Starting...now!**

**Name****: BYON (Bring your own name. If not, one will be provided.) Can be a trait, a name you like, etc.**

**Species of Pokemon****: No Legendaries, and try to avoid Riolu and Lucario. I cannot stress enough that I want this to be the spawn of your imagination, so use your favorite Pokemon or whatever, but how about a underused one? Just a suggestion.**

**Gender:**** Even if you pick a gender-less Pokemon, I don't mind if you establish a masculine, feminine, or neutral nature.**

**Age:**** As this holds true in our world with animals, age may be different between, say, an elephant and a fruit fly. Not saying you have to research this, but if in your opinion the age of 7 is middle age for a Caterpie, let me know.**

**Background****: What was the life of your OC like? Childhood? Growing up? Did they have a troubled past? Are they a loose cannon cop who doesn't play by the rules? A rookie explorer? A veteran explorer who wants to get back in the field? What are their goals, their motivations?**

**Occupation:  What do they do? Are they an explorer? A shop owner who's fed up with the system and ready to take some revenge? A lawyer!? THAT would be cool!**

**Personality:**** What are they like? Spare no detail, as you are defining the character of this OC. Their likes, dislike, etc.**

**Relatives/relations:**** Family? Parents, siblings, old flames, current lovers?**

**Attacks/Battle Strategy:**** How does your OC throw down, and with what moves?**

**Clothing:**** What do they wear, and in what fashion. Again, these are monsters, so let's not get too carried away.**

**Speaking of getting carried away, don't be afraid to get carried away! Get as open ended as you want! And there's no limit to how many OCs you can submit, so you can do a whole team, a group of townsfolk, etc. Stay up all night sending in OCs for all I care! They can be in a PM or a review.**

**Well, that about covers it. Updates may become less frequent after the three main characters are introduced, as I'll be really working the plot and working in OCs at that point, but stick around! It's gonna be a wild ride!**

***All OCs must be in by June 7th if they want a chance at being in Part 1(I'm running out of space for this part). As I've said before, those who don't receive major parts or parts at all in Part 1 get priority for Part 2. That CANNOT be guaranteed if submitted after the deadline. OCs will be accepted after that date, but there will be no guarantee that they can receive priority for Part 2. I'm sorry, but I have to stick to my own rules; I can't bend them if I see an OC I really like because if I did, I'd have to do it for everyone now wouldn't I? Stay tuned though for OCs, because I may have need for specific ones in the future and will put an announcement in a chapter. Thank you and enjoy the story!**

****As of now, OC submissions are closed. Another time will come when they can be submitted, but for now, no submitted OCs can be guaranteed acceptance. If you have any ideas, please wait until OC submission is re-opened. Thank you and enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2: Greentree Forest Exodus

**Hey, guys, back for Chapter 2! I don't know if I mentioned this before, but this is kinda a side-project to my main series, Pokemon: The Plasma Saga. That doesn't mean I'll only write for this when I can't think of anything else for PS, but instead that I won't be doing this like every single day. I'm only updating close together like this to establish the main characters in like a pilot type deal. After that, I'm gonna be focusing a lot on OCs (which I was delighted to receive a bunch. Thanks guys!) So, sit back and enjoy!**

* * *

Amber the Torchic huddled underneath the bush as the rain continued to cascade down. It had been like this for hours, and Amber didn't know how much longer she could hold out.

She was cold, hungry, alone, and vulnerable. Most of those threats operated on different levels, though.

The cold was probably the least of her worries, but could get a lot worse if hunger, the next one up her list, was left unchecked. As a Fire-Type, she could generate her own fire, albeit very weak as she was very young. But even fire produced by Pokémon was no exception to the rule that fire needed fuel. And in this case, food was fuel.

Alone probably was stuck at the bottom of the list of immediate threats, but it was making the other things worse. As her young mind focused on the lack of company and safety, the other worries wen unchecked, making them worse. So loneliness may actually achieve a higher spot on the list.

And what she considered to be the most immediate danger was vulnerability. Not just to the elements, but to other Pokémon. Greentree Forest was among the safest places to raise children, or so they say.

It was this statement that attracted all of the creeps. Slavers, killers, or just hungry Pokémon. And those creeps who called this place "home" knew the menu, so to speak.

They knew that the Magikarp liked to swim in shallow waters. They knew that the Starly liked to fly low near the tall grass in hopes of finding tasty bugs to eat. They knew that the Ekans liked to bask on the rocks when it was sunny out.

And they knew what rain mean: All-You-Can-Eat Buffet. The Ducklett liked to swim on the lake when it rained. They were the appetizers.

Searching any cover, be it a rock, a tree knot, a bush…you'd be sure to catch some unsuspecting Pokémon that simply didn't want to be caught in the rain. That was usually supper.

And when the rain stopped, that's when the Weedle like to come out and play in the mud. They were dessert.

Amber tried not to think about vulnerability. Predators didn't dare approach her when her mother was around, but she had heard a great deal of insults from the predators standing afar. They were usually along the lines of _Torchic Drumsticks _or _Torchic Nuggets_.

Another sob was let loose when Amber thought of her mother. _Didn't_. The predators _didn't _dare. Now, they might as well.

Her eyes peeked open as she heard a pitter-patter of gentle squishes in the mud. She saw the black feet of a mother Swanna pass, followed by a horde of yellow-footed Ducklett.

Amber considered asking her for help, but a sudden surprise would no doubt result in a Hurricane or Hydro-Pump. Swanna knew to look out for creeps when it rained.

Amber's legs felt weak. She had barely realized that she had been standing this whole time, albeit scrunched over.

Using her clawed foot, she felt the ground behind her. And upon realizing that it was dryer that that she had been standing on, plopped down, and sighed with relief-

-just as the water accumulating on the large leaves of the bush became too much for the fauna to handle, and doused her.

The water was cold, but to a Fire-Type, that just made it hotter. Well, hot water they could tolerate. Cold water, on the other hand, stung their skin. Most Fire-Types grew accustomed to water. Among Fire-Types, developing virtual immunity to simply puddles and raindrops was considered a sign of adolescence. They called it getting your "Callus."

Amber didn't have her Callus yet. She was still a little girl, about seven years old. As a Torchic, she was a bit more mature than most 7-year-olds at this age. The mental age of a Torchic tended to be a few years ahead of their physical age.

But still, she was weak to natural water, not just to that produced in Water-Type attacks.

Amber frantically shook the water out of her soft down. Hers was softer than most of those that had been a part of her clutch. At seven, she should have molted at least once by now. But she hadn't. She still wore the same layer of feathers she had from birth.

She was the runt of the litter, so to speak.

And now, in the ultimate and cruelest ironies, her wishes had been granted. She _was _the litter.

Amber guessed that saying must've been true. Be careful what you wish for…

The Torchic shuddered again as her head began to sting wildly. She moved to the side, but found she couldn't avoid the stinging.

The water had opened a hole in her tiny canopy of safety, exposing her to the downpour.

"I have to find cover," she whimpered, running out from the bush. Water poured down into her eyes, blurring her vision.

She turned to her left, and took in a gasp of surprise and joy as she noticed a small mound of dirt. Running as fast as her little legs would carry her, she headed for the burrow, a possible haven to weather the storm.

She plopped down on the dry dirt the awaited her just inside the burrow. She sighed with relief, and shook herself off.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" came the sharp, nasal response from inside the burrow.

"Wh-whose there?" demanded Amber, trying to get to her feet, but slipping and landing back on her bottom.

Out of the darkness waddled a Drilbur, a look of discontent on his snouted face. "What do you think _you're_ doing in here, foul fowl?"

"E-excuse me?"

The Drilbur chuckled to himself and put his claws on his chunky hips. "'Excuse me', she says-"

"Yes, that's what I said…"

"'Yes, that's what I said' she says."

Amber cocked her head to the side. "Why are you repeating what I say?" she asked, confused at the Mole Pokémon's odd speech patterns.

"'Why are you repeating what I say' she asks! Oho, the real question here is why are _you _intruding in my house!?" He pointed an accusing claw at her.

"Well I-" He shrieked, both claws flying to the side of his head, his face mortified as another drop of water plopped off of Amber's feathers and hit the dirt.

"You see, you confounded chick! You're ruining my carpeting! I just had it done!"

"C-carpeting?" Now, Amber hadn't spent much time with other Pokémon, but if this is how they all acted about their houses, getting asked over for dinner was now one thing Amber could move off of her "Dream List."

"Yes!" shouted the Drilbur, "Carpeting! This isn't any run-of-the-mill dirt, you see, you pompous poultry! This dirt was imported from the Eastern Canyon! It is the finest dirt on all of Poképangea! Only the finest dirt for Bottles the Collector! And you are soiling it!"

A small snicker left the beak of Amber at the pun that Bottles had made, though unknown to him. But while he didn't know why she was laughing, the pure fact that she was annoyed Bottles.

"Oh, the nerve of some Pokémon! You…you asinine avian! You…you…you blatantly bold bird! You-"

"Listen, mister," interrupted Amber. Amber was by no means a rude person, but she would rather suffer the deluge of rain than the deluge of Bottles' insults (most of which she had absolutely no idea what they meant). "I just need a place to stay until the rains stops. After that, I'll be on my way! Honest!"

Bottles let out laughing again, further confusing the socially awkward Torchic on proper speaking etiquette. Wasn't it rude to laugh at someone when they're honest?

Bottles wiped a tear away from his eye. "Oh, you foolish feathered fiend. _You _think that you could take on the roads?"

He looked at the Torchic, still chuckling, but stopped suddenly when he saw the confused look on her face. She looked at her feet, thinking, like she was running out of new ways to say the same thing.

"Well…yeah. Why not?"

Bottles snorted, and then the laughing resumed. "You wouldn't stand a chance on the roads, you hilarious hen! You would be swept up by a highway-mon in an instant! That is, if you don't starve to death!"

"Are the roads really that dangerous?"

"For a tiny tidbit like yourself, more dangerous than the Gateway Approaches themselves!" The laughter had wound down, and Bottles could now focus on the important matters at hand. First on his list: his precious carpet.

"Shoo!" said the Drilbur, waving his claws at Amber. She scampered back, feeling a few drops of rain on the back of her head. "I said, shoo, freakish fledgling! My decor is getting damper by the second!"

"B-but-"

"I said flee, you dolt of a drumstick!" He spread his arms out, his claws glowing and extending in length. "Or do I unleash the fury of my Fury Swipes?"

Whimpering, Amber hopped out of the burrow, being greeted by the unpleasant sensation of rain pouring down on her little head.

Bottles nodded, and reached to the side. "And stay out!" He slammed a small, round little door in her face. Once more, she was left to her own devices.

Rain quickly flooded her eyes again, blurring everything. Looks like any underground shelter was out of the picture now…

Green. Even though her eyes were blurry, green would tell her where leaves were. And where leaves were, there was cover.

With haste, she surveyed her surroundings, and literally jumped when she saw a long, blurry stretch of green,

The second her feet hit the ground from her little hop, she was off towards the green blur. She didn't stop until the feeling of raindrops did.

The second they did, she skidded to a stop, and sighed.

Immediately after, it resumed.

"Wha!?" cried Amber. The shifted around, thinking that the branch had only shifted in the wind. But it was truly gone.

She turned to see the branch, bobbing up and down, actually moving.

She ran along to catch up with the runaway branch. If she could catch it, and maybe plop a rock or two down to keep it from blowing away, it would make for a fairly decent shelter…

The water flowing into her eyes flowed out as she ran. When she finally reached the leaf, she realized that the leaf wasn't blowing away.

In fact, the leaf technically wasn't moving at all. It was attached to a Pokémon!

The leaves belonged to a massive Pokémon. It lumbered down the road, Amber having to avoid the waves of mud splashed up by its thick hind legs as they moved. Each foot had a round, yellow claw, and the back two having two instead of one.

Looking up, Amber noticed that the leaf she was trying to keep up with wasn't the only one. Two more leaves, each longer than this one, stuck out from the beast's shoulders. It had a long neck that was at least multiple lengths of Amber's body.

The Pokémon didn't seem to mind Amber's presence. It just kept ambling along, eyes forward. And while Amber appreciated the cover, her little legs were getting more and more tired by the minute.

"E-excuse me," she chirped, stumbling in the mud as she hustled, trying to keep pace with the bigger Pokémon, who was effortlessly beating her, even though he was walking slowly.

_Maybe he can't hear me_, thought Amber. _Yeah, that must be it! The rain is loud, and it running down layers and layers of leaves and hitting other puddles of water and stuff makes a lot of noise!_

"HEY! MISTER! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

Nothing. The big Pokémon paid her no mind.

Pulling out a little reserve energy, Amber run forward a bit, and as she slowed down, about to fall back behind, she jumped and pecked the creature's leg.

Nothing. She did it again, but this time-

"Peck!" she shouted, her beak glowing. She battered the Pokémon's leg with nips from her beak.

That got his attention.

He stopped dead in his tracks, and without skipping a beat, one of his massive forelegs was raised, and slammed down at Amber. Had she not stumbled back, she would have been crushed.

Amber fell of her back, and looked up fearfully to see that the Pokémon's neck had twisted around to face her, fire and malice in his brown eyes. His upper lip was curled angrily.

Dangling from his chin, sort of like a beard, were bananas. A plate-like visor, starting from the base of his head covered his forehead, rain running off of it to keep it out of his eyes. He was clearly a Pokémon built to live in rainforests. While this wasn't technically a rainforest (although it was raining, and it was a forest) he must've been right at home here.

The Pokémon raised his head, a ball of green and black energy forming. He launched it at Amber, who squeaked and dove headfirst into the mud. The ball hit a rock, and exploded into a cloud of steam.

The Pokémon growled. "Get lost, kid. Not even worth my breath…"

His head turned back to the road ahead, and he lumbered on.

Shaking the mud off of her, Amber hopped right back up and ran back under one of his back leaves.

"Wait! Can you help me?"

"If you need help, go ask your mother," came the impatient response.

"My mother is dead," said Amber, stopping dead in her tracks. The Pokémon stopped as well, his head turning back to see her big, quivering, saucer-like eyes.

_Kid's had a rough time_, said the Tropius on his right shoulder, with a halo and angel wings instead of leaf wings.

_Bah, leave her!_ Said the one with red Zubat wings and horns. _She's just dead weight! Besides, you're the badest cat around! No one's gonna mess with you! But if you're travelin' the highways with that little treat on your shoulder, any creep with a little ache in his belly's gonna want a bite of that!_

"I'm sorry to hear that, kid," he said, turning back and starting to walk again. "But I've gotta get rollin'."

Amber didn't understand. All her life she had been taught to help no matter what. That was pretty one thing that her mother had drilled into the heads of her brothers and sister da I and day out.

"My mother said I should always help a Pokémon in need," said Amber, running again to keep pace. She almost choked at the second mention of her mother in a few minutes. "Didn't your mother tell you that too?"

"She might've," the Tropius replied, not turning just to be sent on another guilt-trip. "But she was probably too busy chewing my brothers and sisters."

"C-chewing!?"

"That's right, kid," huffed the Tropius, "When a mommy Tropius gets a little snackish, she eats her babies. That's called cannibalism. Part of life, kid."

"My mother wasn't a…cannamal."

_And to think I hear Torchic are so delicious…_he thought. He turned to tell her to shove off again, but stopped not only because of her Growlithe-puppy eyes, but because of his current thought process.

The sky was comin' down on this place, the kid was all alone in this world, and…he couldn't let her stay. Not here. Not alone. Not with what was coming.

Then again, he could just ditch her and feel bad about it later.

He shrugged it off and simply continued on.

Amber literally hit the ground running, pulling herself back up and following Tropius. "W-wait! Where are you going? Are you going to Quarrysville? Cuz I'm going there, too!"

"Nope. Not going to Quarrysville. Goin' the complete other way. Not even gonna go near the place. In fact, I've never heard of it."

Quite content with himself, he continued forward, his head smacking into the sign he hadn't noticed previously.

_Quarrysville_, it read, with an arrow pointing down the path. He slowly turned back to the Torchic. She saw the sign too.

Not even bothering to try and save it, he just turned and continued on. "Fine. You can come if you want. It _is _a path, after all. I don't own it or anything…"

Grumbling to himself, he continued on. Amber chirped gleefully, and took off next to him. "Thank you, Mister…uh…"

"Brute," he put plainly. "My name is Brute."

"Nice to meet you, Brute! My name is Amber!"

"I wish I could say the same, kid. I really do."

"Brute?" Amber chirped innocently. Brute sighed. If she kept on asking for things like this the whole trip, he'd eventually have to give them to her…

Or step on her. That was always an option.

"Can I ride on your back, Brute?"

"No." Brute replied curtly. "Kid, life lesson. Just because something has four legs, doesn't mean you can ride on it, or ask if you can ride on it. We aren't all Ponyta, and even they aren't all rides. That's profiling, and we resent that."

"Does that mean you don't like it when people make fun of you?" asked Amber, making an effort to be able to look Brute in the eyes when she talked to him, as well as keep up with her little legs.

Well, her effort was in vain anyway, because Brute simply looked on. She could fall in a ditch for all he cared.

He had forgotten she had even been talking, and she reminded him by continuing without a response. "Cuz I don't like it when people…_lament _me."

Brute sighed. This was gonna be a long trip.

As Brute and Amber made their way down the path, now united on their way to Quarrysville, a small Combee buzzed up to where they had stopped a few minutes prior, and watched them leave.

It said nothing. It thought nothing. The Tiny Bee Pokémon simply watched with its milky white, pupil-less eyes.

It turned, and then it left.

…

Sehren stood atop the small cliff, taking in a deep breath through his nose. He exhaled through his mouth, relaxing slightly as the beauteous aroma left him feeling refreshed and sharp. He loved the smell of the forest after it rained.

The Scizor turned to the Mothim standing behind him: Ahz, his second-in-command. "She'll probably be wanting to talk to me now, eh?"

Ahz nodded his small head. "I would say so, sir."

"Are the conditions right?"

"They seem to be, but I can get another Rain Dance arranged if you'd like, sir."

"No, it seems to be damp enough. A nice Mist would probably help, however. Make it so, Ahz."

"Of course, sir." Sehren maintained his gaze over the dense green forest as Ahz fluttered back to a small company of Bug-Types awaiting orders.

The all looked antsy (bad joke, I know) restless, eager to prove their worth to their lord. The Pinsir of the group wrestled with their great head-jaws, seeing who was the strongest. Two stopped mid-match, looking up at Ahz as he fluttered by them. Upon seeing that they were not the subject of his visit, they resumed, locking hands as well as head-jaws as each tried to force the other over.

A Leavanny practiced some of its attacks on a Shedinja. Shedinja were usually the conductors (and targets) during target practice, as most of the moves the Bug-Types possess are worthless against their Wonder Guard ability.

While many of the Bug-Types trained, some even napped, preparing for what was to come. A few dozen Burmy and Wormadam dangled from a bare skeleton tree, snoozing peacefully. A massive Scolipede was curled up around the trunk of the tree. Assorted smaller Bug-Types also napped in the tree.

"So, when do you think we'll attack?" hissed an Ariados to a Dustox. "I mean, we've been waiting here this whole blasted time! I'm soaking wet! Why not send a vanguard into the forest and flush out the dolts who didn't leave, and _then _go in?"

"Cool it, you two." cautioned Ahz as he drifted by. The Ariados watched Ahz go for a second, before scuttling forward and calling out to the back of his head.

"Oh, shut up, Ahz! You were worthless before Sehren picked you as his lieutenant! Now you're acting all high and mighty just because you can hide behind him and run your mouth! And then we get grief about not listening to pompous mothball like you!"

Ahz stopped. Now, Ahz wasn't the type of Pokémon who would drop everything, including their composure, to throw down once they were called a name. But doubting his position…that Ariados might as well have already hit him.

In a blur of brown and orange, Ahz was in the mouthy spider's face. His eyes blazed with anger, and his wings flapped so fast that it looked like they weren't even moving.

"What, you gonna fight me?" chuckled the Ariados. "I bet you don't even have the thorax to do it!" He looked over his shoulder, knowing his pals would back him up. "Right guys?"

They didn't. Everyone behind him took a few nervous steps back.

Several Pokémon stopped what they were doing an watched. The Scolipede who had been napping under the tree poked his eye open.

"Uh-oh," he said, turning to the Venonat next to him. "Who got Ahz mad this time?"

"That blockhead Adne," said the Venonat, pointing with his stubby hands.

The Scolipede sighed and closed his eye, preparing to go back to sleep. "Poor guy. When will they ever learn?"

Some Pokémon went back to their activities, as they knew what happened to those who got Ahz mad. But others watched. Some because they relished a chance to see Ahz's fabled Scary Face technique.

Some just didn't like Adne.

Adne shivered as everything around him, the entire world and everyone in it, were dragged away. It was just him and Ahz, in a dark, cold, empty space.

The red and cream patterns on Ahz's wings began to melt together, blending into a wrathful, fiery face. His antennae blended in too, forming the black-hole eyes of the monster.

Adne began to whimper, and he covered his eyes with one of his legs.

His fear was multiplied as his leg was slowly moved away from his face by a force beyond his control. He was experiencing what Ahz's Scary Face did to a Pokémon: complete helplessness. Submission.

Adne felt his neck tense; he couldn't look away. His eyes grow dry; he couldn't blink. He was forced to stare into this nightmare of a creature's dark, soulless eyes.

"Do you want to know why Sehren picked me?" He heard Adne's voice, along with a nightmarish rumble.

"N-n-n-no! I mean yes! I'm sorry!"

Adne began to whimper and cry like a baby, and Ahz relented. His wings stopped their hurricane like beat, and he turned back around. Adne fell to the ground, broken and still crying.

"Clean him up," ordered Ahz, as he reached a puddle where a few Surskit were relaxing. "You four, come with me."

Sehren was still looking down at the forest when Ahz and the Surskit returned to the peak. The Mothim nodded to them, and they went to work as he returned to Sehren's side, the blanket of mist curling around them as he did.

"Were you enjoying yourself, Ahz? I heard that Ariados crying like a larvae."

"Insubordination, sir," said Ahz, handing Sehren a small green orb. "It had to be done." A smile crept across his face. He enjoyed it, though.

"Good, good." Sehren turned around, facing the Mist. He held up the orb, and it let out an emerald pulse.

Slowly, the center of the mist cloud began to swirl, forming a small tornado-like occurrence. The orb floated out into the center of it.

The orb slowly began to glow brighter. Sehren and Ahz instinctively covered their eyes as the orb let out one final bright pulse.

When they slowly removed their coverage, the mist was no longer just mist. Instead, it was illuminated by a sickly, dark green glow, like what you would expect flowing out of a witch's cauldron.

In the center was the shape of a hooded figure, inside of which the orb glowed bright.

Sehren and Ahz bowed respectively. "Infiltrator. I have a report for you."

The shape nodded. "Good." As the orb was projecting her voice from far away, there was a stale echo, as if the Infiltrator was speaking into a plastic cup. "I assume the inhabitants of the forest are leaving?"

Sehren nodded. "The smart ones. Those who think they'll be able to whether the metaphorical storm, and the plain dumb ones…wait, they're basically the same. Anyway, the idiots and those who didn't get the message are all that remain. We simply away backup to commence the invasion."

The Infiltrator cocked her head to the side. "Your task force should be sufficient enough. Why not attack now?"

Ahz let out a small sigh. It sure was a good thing Adne wasn't smart…

"Well, if this place shelters what we think it does, it will be one tough nut to crack." Sehren spread his claws. "Plenty of guards, very nasty. We await the full backing of The Swarm. It should be arriving soon."

The Scizor warlord flashed a toothy grin. "Besides…we might as well get comfy once we're done. That was the deal, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was our half. Control of The Swarm, and new territories to settle and expand." She pointed at him her robes covering her hands (if she had any). "But you must fulfill yours."

"Don't worry, don't worry, I've got it! I took care of anything that'd be a problem down there myself! Turns out the big bad 'Dragon of the East Woods' was just a big-" Sehren snickered. He loved puns. "-_chicken!_"

The Infiltrator sighed. Sehren always wondered who that mysterious robed woman was, and he intended to find out. He was quite content with his current position, and was in no way looking for a power-grab.

But the Bug-Types always got the short straw in the end. They never got the storybook finish. He'd need to assure a safe future for himself…er, his people!

"It'll get done, don't worry. Seeya around." Sehren motioned to Ahz, who let loose a Silver Wind, blowing away the Mist and cutting the transmission. The orb dulled and fell to the ground with a _PLINK!_

One of the Surskit skittered over to it, hoisted it up, and carried it over to Ahz. He nodded, taking the orb and ushering the Surskit away.

"What now, sir?"

"Now, Ahz, my good mon, we wait. After all, it would be rude to-"

He was interrupted by a low hum in the distance. A long shadow began to fall over the mountain. As it go closer, the buzzing grew louder and louder.

Ahz marveled at the sight he beheld above him. Sehren looked up as well, spreading his arms as if to welcome it all. This was _his_! This marvelous army belonged to him.

"Well, looks like that gang's all here." He hopped onto a rock overlooking the area where his task force waited.

"Well boys, looks like it's time to…bug out."

* * *

**Dun...dun...duuuuuuuun!**

**The first of the three mains has been unveiled! We are introduced to Amber the Torchic, as well as the OCD Drilbur Bottles (Yes, that is a reference to Banjo-Kazooie) and Amber's grumpy traveling companion Brute the Tropius. I've always loved Tropius, I think it's a really underrated Pokemon. I make sure to catch one on every Ruby/Emerald run I play.**

**Anywho, Amber and Brute are leaving their forest home, along with many others. Why is this? What is to become of Greentree Forest? What does Amber wish to find in Quarrysville? What about Brute? And who is this Sehren character (I mean, I'd watch out for Ahz, but that other guy is still...mysterious). What are his intentions? And what about The Infiltrator? Stay tuned to find out!**

**I'm still accepting OCs, so submit submit submit! If you've submitted already, feel free to do it again! I plan on using everyone, no matter what! I have however been getting many members of the Ralts family, mainly Gardevoir. Don't be afraid to submit one, but I may have to really work it out.**

**So, wheter they're a townsperson, a shopkeeper, an explorer, a villain (I need those too), or just an average Joe! It matters not!**

**So what'll it be next? A Turtwig? A Munchlax? A Flygon? A Purrloin? An Electabuzz? Anything! Send whatever you'd like, but I'd like to see some other Pokemon, besides the popular ones. I wanna be able to look at something someone sent me and go, "Wow, a...doing...with a personality like...? Cool!"**

**And let's set it straight right now: unless I say so at the beginning of a chapter (unlessIforgetinthatcaseremindmeIhaveahorriblememo rysorry!) all characters belong to me. I will give credit to the marvelous OCs sent in to me by the marvelous people the first time they appear. **

**Phew, felt like I rambled a bit there. Well, had to say a few things. Seeya next time!**


	3. Chapter 3: Quarrysville

**In this chapter, the first of the wonderful OCs submitted to me appear! Thanks to SuperStarKirby and Pokekid543! I promise all submitted OCs will appear eventually!**

* * *

Mo kicked his pebble once again, this time sending it a good ten feet ahead of him. He didn't speed up to catch hit. His depressed , uncaring expression didn't change. He simply ambled along, down on his luck.

Again.

He didn't worry about getting n anyone's way. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Everyone else looked out for him. They saw the Snivy with his miserable guise, realized the poor guy was having a bad day, and left him be.

At least the decent folk did that.

Some of the more annoying ones tried to cheer him up. Give him some valiant speech of triumphing over one's own internal demons and seeing the bright side of life, which was the true victory.

Bethany, the motherly neighborhood Jinx, would often offer him some sort of comfort on his depressed walk by.

And so he corrected his route.

It wasn't just that Mo failed at everything he wanted to do. It was that he failed at everything he did.

He had spent his whole life aspiring to be a great Explorer. Do be the guy who discovered the mysterious new land, or kicked down the castle door, beat up the bad guy, and saved the day.

He was very, very bad at all of those things.

First of all, he couldn't read a map for his life. And not just because he'd flip it upside down or something stupid like that. Mo was pretty smart, but he liked certainties.

For example, if the map he was given to locate a secret cave contained, say, path that most Venusaur take on their migration, and was maybe mistaken for a natural garden when the cartographer drew it, one might get lost.

And when Mo was actually on to something, he'd just get beaten there. There were several times where he got valid information on some new, hidden location or some mound of treasure, and get there just in time to see someone else find it!

Literally, one time he was investigating a mysterious well in the middle of the forest. He got there just in time to see the explorers who "discovered" it plant their flag at the top!

The second guy to do something never gets any credit.

And Mo was an excellent planner. He once heard about a den of outlaws, and prepared himself for an epic battle. Stat boosting elixirs and cures for most diseases known to Pokémon. Orbs that could do things from stun everyone in the room to detect every trap within a hundred miles.

He got there just in time to see the valiant heroes who "discovered" the bad-guys' lair hog tie the last outlaw.

He really hated those guys.

And to top it all off, Mo wasn't exactly the greatest fighter. That was partially the cause of today's sorrows, but we'll get to that later.

Mo tried time and time again to form an Exploration Team with several Pokémon, as he was more fitted for a "to the side" role than the guy who plunged headfirst into an ocean of villains.

But everyone seemed to doubt the poor Snivy's abilities. No one wanted a tactician, a guy who could get you the exact stuff you needed for the exact location you're headed for. The guy who could pull in all the favors and backdoor deals to get you an audience with an influential Guild authority.

They just wanted the guy who could point his finger (or wing, fin, whatever) at the baddies, say "Die," and turn back around to go collect the bounty.

As per his mentor's suggestions, Mo had tried several attempts at training. That didn't work out very well.

And the against his mentor's suggestions, he tried soloing some missions.

Nope.

Mo kicked his pebble again, this time into the center square of Quarrysville. Well, technically a circle. The town center was a large, ceramic stone tiled circle, where the majority of the townsfolk would congregate to be with friends or just relax.

The large fountain in the center, which sprayed soothing (and drinkable) mineral water from an underground spring was a favorite spot for lovers, sunbathers, and those who wanted to take a little dip.

Street performers did their little acts all around the massive circle. Everything from juggling, to fortune telling, one-mon bands. One could always find something to do in the Town Center.

To the north was the neatly paved walk to the mayor's office. Unlike most of the buildings in town, it was actually carved and crafter, into the form of a small castle. It was one of the largest buildings in town.

On the subject of the buildings (and the town) Quarrysville didn't exactly have the most exciting backstory. Some guy went spelunking and found some precious stones and minerals underground, he invited his friends, who brought their families.

They set up a camp. The camp got bigger. The camp needed supplies, so they opened regular trade-routes. Yadda yadda, you know the rest.

Quarrysville was a booming town of hustle and bustle, everyone coming here to try and strike it rich in the mines, which were still bounteous after decades of use.

Once the Pokémon started to flow in, so did the larger organizations, trying to grab up the prime hot-spots.

And once a niche had been established for produced, a small port was even set up to export goods. The farmlands around the city-state were quite fertile, so import was more for trinkets, clothes, and other less-necessary supplies.

The Pelipper Mail Service set up a new headquarters here. Several trade businesses and administrations liked to operate out of the crowded streets of Quarrysville. Most notably, an embassy of the Exploration Federation set up shop here as well, seeing as many Explorers saw this as a spot to gear up, and even to build a base of their own.

And so the various other businesses and factions and such carved out their own little chunks of Quarrysville.

The houses here were in no way linear, or even alike. Most of the early houses were carved out of the large stones that jutted out of the ground almost everywhere in Quarrysville. Some still are.

And then jumbled amongst them were the wooden cabins, the wooden shacks, the wooden whatevers. And you could just basically swap "wooden" with an adjective relating to any other building materials to get the rest of the buildings.

But as of late, tents and makeshift shacks had been popping up, as refugees from all over swarmed into the town to try and piece together what was left of their lives; what they could take with them when they were forced from their homes.

By natural disasters of all sorts. Tornadoes had ripped apart the Golden Plains to the east. Earthquakes had demolished Canyon City to the northeast.

He had even heard that the Fluffy Woods had _frozen over!_

And those were just the disasters. Criminal activity had risen to a fever pitch as mercenary bands and raiders demolished and pillaged villages.

And those were the sensible Pokémon! The ones who could still think! Feral Pokémon, completely out of their minds, had returned to their animalistic mentality, hunting prey without mercy, attacking without hesitation.

What was causing this, no one knew. Could be whatever mysterious force was shaking the world. Could be some new, mysterious plague unleashed by the destruction. The poor Pokémon could just be unable to handle the shock!

Whatever it was, Mo wanted to stop it. To ebb the tide of tyranny.

But no, no one would take him.

Mo kicked his pebble again, this time sending it into a bush. Oh well, it wasn't like Quarrysville had any shortage of pebbles to kick.

As previously stated, Mo didn't just give up at Exploring. By no stretch did he give up, but that wasn't the extent of his trying at things.

Mo had invested so much of his studying, of his training, of his mental preparation into being an Explorer, that he hadn't been able to do anything else when it finally dawned on him that he might not be able to be one!

Maybe he should've listened to his father. The old snake once had a saying, "Don't beat your metal into a sword until you're sure you can use it. A sword can't chop wood, nor can it dig holes or carve stone or stock shelves."

Mo snorted. Well, maybe a Serperior shouldn't have been a blacksmith!

He felt a sharp twinge of pain in his gut as he thought up that snide remark. Even though he hadn't been on the best of terms with his old man when the…accident happened, deep down he still missed him.

The Snivy let out a sigh as he turned down the all too familiar path leading to the rear of the district. His father used to have another saying, too.

"When in doubt, eat your sorrows away."

…

Arthur the Ralts rubbed his poor, aching cranium as he shuffled down a row of shops and stalls in the Market District. This road wasn't narrow, it was…cozy. A nice line of bushes and tame trees separated this row of businesses from the town square.

"Why do I always have the worst luck…" moaned Arthur. The poor guy had just been walking along, minding his own business, when _BAM!_ A pebble came flying out of nowhere and struck him in the head!

He looked at the ground as he walked along; a habit of his when he was down on himself. He always held the pessimistic theory that his mind wanted to remind him that he was down, and so that's where he look went.

But poor Arthur wouldn't get away with just a stray pebble to the noggin today. He was suddenly sent back on his rear by something he had walked into.

He looked up at the Sableye glaring at him. The demon-like Pokémon's teeth were bared, and it held its arms out to the side, as all Pokémon do, but Arthur saw the hanging of the arms and the nasty claws at the end of those arms as a threat.

"S-sorry, I-I wasn't looking…" offered Arthur. The Sableye simply snarled, making Arthur flinch.

"Darn right you weren't!" he snapped before continuing on his path. Arthur got back up and brushed himself off. He turned to offer the Sableye one last apology, but it had already covered a great distance.

Arthur could see it almost at the end of the street with another Sableye. The one that bumped into him murmured something to the other, and they both cackled wildly as they turned the corner.

After another few minutes of mobile sulking, Arthur reached his destination.

It was a counter made completely out of driftwood, with a few shelves forming makeshift walls behind it, and a large blue tent to the rear, forming almost a box. The wooden sign atop the tent, decorated with carvings of multiple aquatic Pokémon. read:

_Fish Out of Water_

_Water-Type Supplies and Surplus_

Fish Out of Water Sold gear for Water-Types who couldn't survive on land without it, or could, but just wanted a little somethin' extra. The carried orbs that could allow you to float, allowing fish Pokémon to essentially "swim" through the air.

Among their other products were scarves and bands that kept you wet and moist, as well as a number of underwater cuisines.

Behind the counter was a giant fish bowl. Inside was the shop's owner, Billy. Billy was a Tentacruel, who could very well use his own goods to support himself outside of the tank, but chose to be constantly submerged.

To compensate for his mostly being underwater, Billy had a Mind Orb, which projected his thoughts, allowing him to communicate with speech, rather than just blowing bubbles.

"Hello, Arthur," came the monotone, emotionless, boring rumble that was Billy's artificial voice. Arthur almost wanted to fall asleep when Billy talked. "I trust you are having a bad day?"

"Yeah," said the Ralts, leaning on the counter and putting his chin in his hands, "You can pretty much assume that now…"

"I was no assuming anything," said Billy. He maintained his eye contact with Arthur while many tentacles did many different things. Some re-arranged wares beneath the counter. Some held up a box, while others stocked shelves with its contents. One was even wiping down the counter. "You simply have a frown on your face."

"Oh," said Arthur, looking down.

"Have you come here to see Takeru?"

Arthur nodded.

"I will fetch him then," said Billy, one of his tentacles snaking into the back room. One then reached over to a large vase on the corner of the counter. "Would you like a water lily? They are in bloom."

Arthur held up a hand. "No thank you," he said politely. Billy didn't put his tentacle away.

"I must insist. Water lilies only stay in bloom for several weeks. They are quite beautiful."

This was getting kinda awkward. Arthur hated confrontational situations, but he really didn't want any of this guy's water lilies.

And on the other hand, Arthur sighed realizing a squid in a jar with an emotionless voice clocked in as "confrontational" for him. That was pretty sad.

"Uh…sure," said Arthur, putting on fake smile and taking one of the flowers. "Thanks."

"You called, boss?" A Dewott walked in from the back tent, wiping his hands on a rag. "I moved those ink-sacs into the-" He stopped when he saw Arthur. "Hey, man, what's up?"

He ran over to the counter, and put on a puzzled expression when he saw Arthur lazily twirling the stem of the flower in his hand. "What's up? You get rejected or something?"

"No, Billy gave me this flower."

"Oh yeah, they're in bloom." Takeru leaned across the counter and whispered to Arthur. "He really likes water lilies."

Arthur shuddered and dropped the flower. "I don't think my body does."

"Huh?" Takeru was confused. His friend had a knack for being…odd sometimes.

Yes, he said friend. Takeru had known the Ralts for a very long time. As an orphan, Arthur had been raised in a Psychic-Type monastery in crown city, the same place Takeru had grown up. Arthur had it rough, so Takeru started looking out for the poor guy.

The two became quick friends. Once Takeru's traditional sword training was complete, he was sent out into the world on his Pilgrimage. The goal of the Pilgrimage was to find something of value, whether it be a physical object, or a piece of knowledge, and return to his old master with it. Then, he would be considered an adult.

Well, it hadn't gone so well so far. Takeru had come with Arthur to Quarrysville, in hopes to find some precious gem, and have one thing lead to another, and propel the two into fame as explorers.

It didn't go that way. They get tricked out of most of their cash on the first night, and quickly ran out, needing supplies and a place to stay.

And so Takeru found himself working as Billy's assistant at Fish Out of Water, helping the Tentacruel do the things he himself could not.

Arthur didn't have much luck making money, leaving Takeru to support the two. But Takeru never complained. He never called Arthur a freeloader or anything. He knew the kid had it rough.

"So…what's the problem?" Takeru asked Arthur.

"I think I'm allergic to water lilies," said Arthur, choking. "My throat's closing up…"

Billy reached for a shelf hand grabbed a Pecha Berry. He offered it to Arthur. "Here, eat this." Even in the dire situation, his simulated voice remained bland and uninterested.

Quickly taking the berry, and knocking off a few bites, Arthur gasped for breath and grabbed at his throat as the swelling began to go down.

"Thanks…" he gasped, finishing the Pecha Berry (just in case. With Arthur, you never know.) "How much for the Pecha Berry?"

"Please," said Billy, holding up a tentacle. "That was simply an act of good will. I request no payment."

"No, no, it's not right." Arthur reached for his wallet, and let out a scream.

"What is it?" cried Takeru.

"S-someone stole my wallet!" cried Arthur, throwing his bag on the ground and searching frantically through it. Arthur had very few possessions within, so it didn't take him very long to conclude that his wallet was gone.

"W-who could've-" Arthur shot up. "That Sableye!"

"Did you see which way it went?" Takeru asked desperately. Arthur nodded, and shot off in the direction they had gone.

Takeru was about to leap the counter, but hesitated and quickly turned to his boss. "Can I go on my lunch break?"

"Yes. Just be back in fifteen minutes, please."

Takeru nodded, cleared the counter, and ran off in pursuit of his friend. Billy reached over the counter and grabbed Arthur's bag, putting it under the counter for safe keeping until they returned.

A few seconds after they left, a Magikarp flopped onto the counter.

"Welcome to Fish Out of Water," said Billy, "How can I help you?"

The Magikarp cleared his throat. "Well, as you can see, I am a Magikarp, and I…well, I would like-"

Billy reached under the counter, and pulled out a small sign. He placed it onto the counter. It read:

_Fish Out of Water does not stock any items that improve the legitimacy of Magikarp, or speed up evolution into a Gyarados. To the owner's knowledge, none exist._

"Awwww," said the Magikarp, feeling defeated.

Billy reached for the vase and pulled out some flowers. "Would you like some water lilies?" he offered.

…

Mo sighed as he hopped up onto his usual stool at the counter of Salty's Food Shack. In front of him he could see the various stews being prepared by the staff, including his close personal friend, some might even say mentor, Salty the Crawdaunt.

The crustacean turned. "Mo, me boy! I-" He stopped when he saw Mo's expression. "Well, looks like someone had an average day."

"For me, yeah," puffed the Snivy as Salty plopped down a pot of thick stew in front of him. The two had a bit of a deal going: if Mo didn't ask for the food, he didn't have to pay for the food.

Salty liked to look out for the kid, ever since his dad died in a forge accident. The kid's mother was a wealthy merchant, who didn't have much time for her son, who basically could leave forever and she wouldn't notice.

And so Salty did his best to try and rub off a few good lessons on the kid. His dad was gone, so who would.

"Alright, spill it," growled Salty. "What was it today? Training, a mission, or a team?"

"None," said Mo, taking a spoonful of the stew. He had to hold back the smile that the delicious food brought to his lips, as Salty would know that he was winning if he did. "I just knew I couldn't…"

The cook growled, slamming some dirty pots down into the sink. "Now ya ain't even tryin'. See kid, that's what won't getcha nowhere. At least before ye were tryin! Now, back in my days as a Roughneck-"

Mo groaned. Here we go again, he thought. Another tale of Salty's days as a naval explorer, discovering countless new lands, fighting notorious pirates, and finding mounds of treasure.

"-know what, I'm not gonna bore ya with another story-"

"Thank Arceus," mumbled Mo as he took another spoonful. The Crawdaunt scoffed.

"I spin the best yarn in town! How could ya-oh never mind. My point is, ya didn't let me finish! _My _stories won't help as much as yours will."

It wasn't often Mo got confused by the old crab. The morals of his stories were usually fairly straightforward. "I don't have any stories…"

Salty leaned over the counter. "That's my point," he said in low voice, almost a whisper. "Ya'v gotta make yer own! Only then can ya truly learn!"

Mo slammed his spoon down on the table. Usually if he wasn't depressed, it was because someone made him angry. "How!? No one wants to join a team with me, I'm too weak to go solo-"

Salty slammed his claw down on the counter, making Mo's spoon rattle, as well as the empty dishes of a snoring Munchlax at the end of the counter. Salty quickly turned to a Corphish. "Clean 'im up." He turned back to Mo.

"Now you listen to me and you listen good. There ain't nothin' better an explorer can have than a loyal crew. You can't find one by hirin' em, and ya surely can't ask around. It has to happened!

Mo crossed his arms. "So you're saying you want me to leave it up to destiny?"

Salty shook his head. Well, his whole body. "Don't let the heavens above do all the work. Give destiny a little-" he poked Mo in the chest with his claw, "-push."

Mo couldn't hold back this time. He cracked a smile. Salty grinned to and laughed wholeheartedly. "Now, that's my boy! Go out there and give em your best! Don't let the world ignore ya anymore! Yell until it has to come over and tell ya to shut up!" He laughed again before turning back to his stew pot to stir.

As he took some more sips of stew, Mo thought. Maybe he _had _left it a little too much up to others, and not himself.

He blamed Sawk and Throh when he got his butt kicked at the dojo. He blamed other Pokémon when no one would form a team with him or let him join. Maybe he just had to dig a little deeper.

Salty half turned, and saw that Mo was still there. "Why're ya still here, boyo? Get out there!"

"I'm still eating!" he snapped playfully. "And my dad always had a saying,-"

"'Eat away yer sorrows', yeah, I know. Though I don't think that's what he meant." He scuttled slowly back over to Mo. The years had not been kind to the old crab.

"He also had another sayin', Mo." He poked him in the chest with his claw again, and spoke in that low mumble of his. "'You are what you dare'."

Salty motioned to the side with his head. Mo nodded, and hopped off the stool, headed for Arceus-knows-where. But Salty knew he was going the right was this time.

Untying his greasy apron, Salty made his way to the gate leading out from behind the counter. "Crusty!" he called back into the shack.

"Yo!" said the Dwebble as it hopped onto the counter.

"Close up the shop, will ya? I've got an errand to run."

Crusty saluted, and immediately turned around, not caring that Salty was still in earshot. "Hey everyone, the boss is gone! Par-tay!"

Salty groaned. Maybe he should 'dare' himself to fire Crusty one of these days…

…

"I spy with my little eye, something…hmmm…"

Amber lay facing the sky on Brute's back. The little twerp had cajoled him (well, just asked until he couldn't take it anymore) into giving her a ride on his back.

And now, she was doing her darndest to make him regret that decision.

"Hmmm…something…white!"

"Kid, I'm not playing your stupid Torchic games! And it's a cloud!" Brute grinded his teeth together. He suddenly envied Pokémon that didn't have ears…

"Would you rather play a Tropius game?" asked Amber, hopping up, and tickling Brute's back with his little talons.

Brute was silent for a moment, thinking for the proper response. For purposes only for himself. "Tropius don't have games. Not that I know of."

Well, he did say his family is gone, Amber remembered. She of all Pokémon didn't want to be insensitive and forgetful regarding family.

"If you're unsure about your culture, why not find another Tropius and ask?" questioned the little chick.

"I can't," Brute spat plainly.

"Well, why not."

"Because I'm the last one."

Amber gasped. She had tried to avoid insensitivity, but…that was out of the blue. And it was sad, if it were true, that is.

"A-are you sure?"

"Yup. Just me. Alone. Solo. Solimentio."

"I…I'm sorry, Brute." Amber sat back down. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Brute let out an agitated chuckle. "Kid, I didn't wanna talk in the first place."

"But talking helps!"

"Talking doesn't get anything done, kid! You'll learn when you're older!"

Brute glanced to the side, where he saw that he was receiving a nasty glance from a mother Doduo, who was leading her chicks down the road.

"What're you lookin' at?" snapped Brute, and the family sped up.

On their way so far, they had passed several dozen refuges, all trying to escape whatever natural disaster had taken their homes. Or like Greentree, was about to.

Though not all of these Pokémon were from Greentree. Brute noticed many Geodude and other Rock-Types. Earthquakes must've taken the caves…

And it had taken more strength than he had to refuse the dying refugees that he saw along the way. It took more than it normally would for the somewhat-selfish Tropius, as Amber wanted to help every single one.

He saw those who had ran out of food and water. Those who simply couldn't handle the climate.

Children. Alone.

He had to keep convincing himself that if he helped these people, he'd run out of food too. They'd die, though their deaths would have been prolonged meaninglessly, and he'd die too, for no good reason.

And…he felt like he would throw up when he thought of this…he had a young girl to look after.

Blessed silence lasted for a few more minutes, before Amber, once again, broke it.

"Oh, you wanna sing a song?"

"No!" snapped Brute. "Why would I want to sing a song? What would give you that conviction?"

"Yeesh, sorry. I just heard you humming, and-"

Brute stopped deadpan. He craned his neck around to face Amber. "I didn't hum."

They both slowly raised their heads to the sky at the same time. Coming at them was a small swarm of Beedrill and Combee, the buzzing of their wings growing louder and louder.

"Who are they?" cried Amber, forgetting she was on Brute's back and trying to stumble away, only to trip at his neck and fall.

"Scouts!" said Brute, moving his back wings to support Amber. "Hold on!"

Brute took off. While he was big, he went rather fast, almost the speed of a young and able bodied Ponyta.

Brute and Amber heard a snarl, and Amber shrieked. Brute couldn't help but turn as he kept running. A Beedrill had broken formation and was headed for them.

"Energy Ball!" shouted Brute as he charged up the ball of green and black energy. While it wasn't super-effective, it was powerful enough to take out the Beedrill.

But not the one behind it. Brute cursed himself for not thinking of that. It was a standard Beedrill technique; for one to hide behind another as it charged, making the defender relax to prepare his one attack, not preparing him for the second Beedrill.

It worked. The Beedrill's hand spike glowed, and stabbed Brute's thigh with a Twinneedle. Brute roared in pain, as Amber hopped up and Pecked the Beedrill down.

"Thanks kid," huffed Brute.

"No problem!" she chirped back. She looked down at Brute's hip. Purple blood was oozing out. "Brute, you're hurt!"

"I'll be fine! Listen, I can't keep looking back! You know Ember, right?"

Amber gulped. She wasn't very good at Fire-Type attack yet. "Y-yes, but-"

"Good! You keep those spikey jerks off my tail! I've gotta focus on gettin' us outta here!"

"C-can't you fly?"

"Yes, but it would be suicide! I fly for distance, not speed! They'd tear me apart!"

They…what are _they _doing this far out, thought Brute. "I thought they only wanted Greentree…"

"Look out!" cried Amber. Brute pulled to the left as a Signal Beam narrowly missed him.

Brute grunted; the maneuver had required him to twist his injured leg, which hurt like a mother. "I thought I told you to keep 'em off of me!"

"I-I can't!" choked Amber. Tears began to fall down her cheek. "I'm sorry!"

They were running out of options. If Brute kept turning to fire an Energy Ball every time one got close, they'd never escape. If he stood his ground to fight em off, they'd never escape.

Brute grinned. If they jumped into the ditch, they might escape.

He put on all of his extra speed, and hopped into the narrow scar in the earth. His massive bulk barely allowed him to pass through. He held back a bloodcurdling scream as he landed with all of his weight on his bad leg.

As quickly as possible, he pressed himself up against the wall, hopefully obscuring him from the patrols' view.

Amber knew enough to be quiet, and so the only sounds they heard were distant buzzing, their own breaths…and the occasional outside scream.

Amber held back tears.

"We couldn't have helped them anyways," Brute kept repeating to himself.

Buzzing grew closer. Brute pressed himself up against the wall as much more as would allow. He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed.

The three Beedrill flew right over the crevice. Brute let out a sigh of relief and flopped down on his belly as the buzzing faded.

"That was…too close…"

Amber hopped off of him, and looked around. "Uh…Brute?"

"Yeah," he said, too tired to scold her for annoying him. "Yeah, what is it?"

"How do we get out?"

Brute's eyes shot open. He lifted his head off of the ground. The kid was right. The walls were too high to climb. Too narrow to spread his wings. They were trapped.

"Wait, look!"

Turning to where the Torchic pointed with her beak, Brute noticed a small cave opening further along the crevice. "We can get out through there."

Slowly, wary of his wound, Brute lifted himself up and walked lumbered over to the cave mouth, Amber at his heels.

He sniffed the air, and immediately back up. "Uh-uh! Ain't no way I'm going in there!"

"Why not?" asked Amber, sampling the air herself. "Doesn't smell dangerous to me."\

She took another whiff. "Actually…I've never smelled something like this before."

Brute grunted in agreement. "They never smell the same."

"What do you mean?"

"This, my young Torchic, is a mystery dungeon."

* * *

**So, Takeru and Arthur belonged to SuperStarKirby, and the two Sableye(who we will see again soon) belonged to Pokekid543! Thanks guys!**

**Many things occurred this time! We met and learned about Arthur and Takeru, who now pursue the two Sableye whoo stole from Arthur. We also met MC #2, Mo the Snivy, who is a bit down on his luck, but got some motivation from his mentor Salty. We also got to see a little more of Amber and Brute's road trip! So, will Arthur confront the Sableye? What will Mo do? What is Satly's errand? And what will Brute and Amber do about the mystery dungeon? Stay tuned to find out!**

**OC submissions are still open! I would appreciate now if you would send in individual OCs, instead of whole teams, as I'm getting a lot.**

**And they don't have to be explorers, either guys. They could be bounty hunters, scientists, archaeologists, cops, lawyers, whatever you can think of!**

**So what'll it be now? A Qwilfish? A Houndoom? Fearow? Fraxure? Sceptile? Lopunny? **

**Stay tuned, review, and submit OCs if you'd like!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Council

**Last time on Explorers of Destiny:**

**We met Mo, a Snivy who was down on his luck. He recieved a little advice from his mentor, Salty, the only person who seems to be there for him, and got motivated enough to get up and do something about it. We also met Arthur, a similarly down on his luck Ralts with terrible luck, as well as his friend, Takeru the Dewott. The two are just trying to make their way in life the best they can. However, a pair of Sableye jack Arthur's wallet, and the two set off in pursuit. Now, far away, the mysterious Council of the Eye is meeting, to discuss the fate of the entire world...**

* * *

One by one, the Council of the Eye was slowly filling up to its full roster in the meeting room. The members of the exclusive inner circle of the secret organization made their ways to their respective seats, whether it be by walking, crawling, teleporting, floating, etc.

Most of the members were Psychic-Types, with Ghost-Types as the second most common, and Dark-Types as the minority. Being accepted into the Council was a very arduous process. There were no set qualifications, but if the Council felt that they needed you, you'd come.

The meeting room was quite simple. It was situated at the second highest floor of the Lookout, the Council's fabled headquarters. A large, round oak table occupied the entire center of the chamber, with room enough for a few shelves and chests around the edge, and room to walk of course.

The members came in all shapes and sizes, but all had one thing in common. Located somewhere on their person was an intricate purple pattern tattoo with an eye in the center.

It was their membership card, so to speak.

As soon as everyone in the room was situated, Oz, who served as the chair of these summits, banged his spoons on the table. The loud knocking echoed through the room, and all fell silent.

"Everyone," Oz spoke loudly so all could hear. "I apologize on calling you all on such short notice, but Councilor Watcher feels that he has significant evidence, backed up by Aurora, to support an imminent catastrophe.

"And while some of our associate members have yet to arrive, Watcher has urged me to start the meeting as soon as possible." He shot a compulsory glance at the Xatu, and unnoticed to everyone else, swallowed.

He almost choked on his pride.

"And while I feel that this meeting is unnecessary, I…trust Watcher on his conviction. It is not very often I am called to his perch. He knows as the chair of the Council, I am very busy at all times, and cannot spare even a moment for idle chit-chat. So, I urge you all to listen."

He nodded to Watcher and Aurora, who sat next to each other. "The floor is yours."

"Thank you," said Watcher, staring blankly into the spot where his head happened to face. The other members of the Council learned to accept that as not being rude, but just how a Xatu talks.

"As you all know, I spend a great deal of time watching the horizon. Lately, I have discovered an imbalance. I flux, if you will, in the norm."

He nodded, not facing the person he meant to signal, but she knew what to do. Aurora hopped onto the enormous table and began to walk to the center.

"Legion, if you would?"

The Gallade at the other end of the table. His purple tattoos were located on his chest, near the red heart-like appendage on his chest. His body was outlined with a blue glow, as well as the several Bronzor surrounding him. They glowed with the same blue glow as he.

Without speaking, several of them dispersed around the room, psychically blowing out the candles and closing the shades of the castle windows.

The ceiling above them began to change to that of a starry night. The planets were represented by clearly cut stones, as well as the sun and the moon.

"Now, if you would kindly look up."

All of the Councilors did so, and Aurora sat down in the middle of the table.

"After Watcher's claim, I did a deal of independent research. As the Sun Pokémon, I possess that certain trait, but must get a bit in touch with myself to do so." She turned to the other end of the table.

"Thank you for your offer on helping me find a book to aid my research, Kal'Droma. It was very generous."

The Beheeyem nodded his head.

"Anyone, I have found something…interesting."

She looked up to the starscape on the ceiling, and her eyes began to glow. The model Earth began to revolve around the sun, and the model moon around the Earth.

"The Earth has entered a strange orbit around the sun. And the moon in turn. The magnetic polarity of the planet has increased, making night and day cycles progressively faster."

She stopped talking for a moment, and the Earth and moon began to revolve faster and faster. The Councilors watched them go around and around, until some got dizzy.

And then they stopped. The light faded from Aurora's eyes, and the gems stopped. The moon was right underneath the sun.

"In a few months, there will be an eclipse. We are not due for one such as this for several years."

"I can confirm this," said Sol, a Solrock. "The Earth has been exposed to strange rays of solar energy due to this new route."

"And the moon has absorbed some," said Luna, the Lunatone. "I know not what this means."

"I can confirm another fact," said Jade, the Absol. She spoke softly, and much like Watcher, she only spoke when she felt something needed to be spoken. "I have detected more and more natural disasters since this cycle began."

"Can you pinpoint the cause?" asked Oz.

Jade shook her head. "I apologize. I have never possessed that ability, only that to detect their coming, not their source."

Romulus, the Dusknoir, slammed his shadowy fist down on the table. "Then what are we waiting for? If we find the source, we can stop whatever is coming!"

"No!" barked Sovereign, the Slowking. "You know the terms of the Edict. We cannot directly interfere!"

"What is the point of a Council, then? A Council decides-"

"-and then their hand sees their will done," said Legion. When Legion spoke, he spoke with ten voices at the same time. Some young, some old, and none knew which one was his. Since he melded his mind with the Bronzor that constantly surrounded him to supply him with power, as the Vanguard of the Council, he spoke with all of their voices.

No one knew which one was truly his. And he always spoke in a plural tense when referring to himself; when he meant "I" he said "we."

Oz shook his head. "You are our Vanguard, Legion. You must remain here at all times."

Legion nodded. "We understand. But Romulus is correct. We may not be able to act, but action is demanded."

"And do you have a recommendation?"

"I do," said Grace, the Gardevoir, raising her hand. Legion, the actual Gallade himself, was her brother, and she often found herself coming to his defense. This had conflicted with her seat on the Council more than once, as being a Councilor demanded an unbiased approach to all matters.

"The floor recognizes Grace," growled Oz, his eyes sweeping around the room, as no one who had spoken since Aurora had waited for proper introduction.

"If I am correct, there is a certain loophole in the Edict?" She grinned as she said this. Grace was famous for being the most lighthearted and spirited of all the Councilors. When she became one of them, she didn't renounce herself, like many did.

Instead, she felt her emotions made her decisions stronger and more valid. Mesprit backed her up on that point on more than one occasion.

"Do explain," said Sovereign halfheartedly, not very eager to hear Grace's newest "loophole" in the document he held almost as holy.

Grace cleared her throat. It was doubtful that it actually required clearing, but she just wanted everyone to hear how clever she was. "It says that we cannot interfere with matters beyond our realm of control. However-"

Oz held up a hand. "If you are going to argue the fact that our "realm of control" isn't very clearly defined, I do not want to hear it."

"No, no, not that. It was the fact that we ourselves cannot." She turned to the other side of the table, and slowly brought her head around so everyone could look at her. "But what if we got someone else…?"

"But who could we trust with such sensitive Council matters?" buzzed Cotta the Claydol in his robotic hum of a voice. "We cannot simply hire an Exploration Team for a matter, the confines of which we ourselves have yet to comprehend."

"I agree," said Sovereign. "We do not even know what kind of catastrophe we are trying to prevent."

"The force required to alter the magnetic field of the Earth would be tremendous," said Sol, looking to Luna, who nodded. "Someone willed this to happen. They want an eclipse. Why, we must find out."

"We have spies!" spat Sovereign. "They will find out who is behind this, and that will be that!"

"But who will deal with it once we figure it out?" asked Romulus. "We are going in circles!"

Open argument broke out in the Council chamber. This only happened when one thing was sure, and Oz knew it: they were afraid.

The Council of the Eye was no doubt an enigmatic organization, almost to the point where nothing was known about them. But the mainstream rumor about the Council was that they knew and saw everything.

And while some Councilors liked to believe that was the truth, when they found something they didn't know, it scared the living daylights out of them.

Oz slammed his spoons down on the table. "There shall be order!"

He looked around the room irately until everyone fell silent again. "We do not know what our new enemy is yet, but we do know of one at our doorstep: ignorance! We do not know everything there is to know! But we do use the knowledge that we have to assure the safety of Pokémon everywhere from forces beyond their comprehension.

"If we continue on, thinking that our knowledge is sufficient, it will not serve us! That is why we must learn more of this enigmatic entity!"

"But what do we do if we can't do anything?" demanded Romulus.

"A champion," said Legion, rather calm for the din of shouting and arguments rising up. Everyone stopped and gave him their attention. "A champion. We find a Pokémon loyal to our cause, and noble enough to do the right thing. They must have a heart of gold, and a mind of platinum. Their resolve must be boundless, and their reach infinite."

Bella, the Gothitelle, shook her head. "These are very troubled times. Where will we find on such as that? Certainly not in these lands."

"I must agree," rumbled Gormus, the Metagross. "This enemy that lurks in the shadows must anticipate opposition. They must be prepared to fight every single Pokémon there is to achieve their goal. The fighting styles of every Pokémon known are predictable, especially to something as ancient as what can alter the course of the Earth!"

Lin Chun the Medicham huffed and crossed her arms. "Speak for yourself."

"Were you going to volunteer yourself, Lin Chun?"

"Well, I am the most fit for the position…"

"What about Legion?" asked Grace with a childish grin, folding her hands and resting her chin on them. Lin Chun's face twisted and her shoulders hunched. For some reason, Grace made it an effort to get under her skin any time she could.

In Grace's opinion, Lin Chun shouldn't have been elected onto the Council. Her own personal saying was, "The brain is a vital organ. Lin Chun's is simply another muscle."

"Legion is-"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Watcher as he stood, his chair scraping against the polished marble floor. "We need a champion. They must have the qualifications brought up by Legion, and they must be a conundrum as brought up by Gormus."

"We need a wild-card," mouthed Cell, the Reuniclus.

"Which is why I propose a majority vote," said Watcher, sitting back down. "All in favor of taking action?"

Everyone raised their hand at first (or whatever they had) except for Oz and Sovereign. Oz, as one of the senior members and the chair, had plenty of influence and pull within the organization. A few members even began to doubt their decision once they saw his hand was not up.

And then slowly, it rose.

Sovereign's smug look exploded into one of surprise when he turned and saw Oz raising his hand.

Oz held for a few seconds, and then brought his spoon down. "It is almost unanimous then. We shall select a champion."

"But how?" asked Sovereign in a "poor-sport" way, coupled with his "matter of fact" tone of voice. "What will you do, survey every Pokémon in every town and village?"

"Rem could search," suggested Grace. The Musharna nodded.

"Searching through dreams should help me turn up a suitable candidate. I will start immediately."

"Some of our members are missing!" said Sovereign, still protesting. "I demand a re-vote once they all arrive!"

Oz nodded. Even though a few more votes would not turn the tide, he had to allow it.

"Alright, we know what to do now. Everyone return to your duties, and I will call for you once more when more is available." He slammed his spoons down on the table.

"For now, meeting adjourned."

…

For about the twentieth time in only a few short minutes, The Infiltrator stopped and looked over her shoulder, making sure she wasn't being followed. It had almost become a reflex now, her body operating on a timer to perform such an action.

She stuck to the cover provided by the wetland terrain as she made her way to her destination. Misshapen boulder, fallen tree, tall grass. They all kept the shadow of a Pokémon.

All of her muscles tensed as she froe in place, hoping the sound she just heard wasn't someone tailing her, someone she had been too carless to detect.

The sound repeated itself, and The Infiltrator looked down at her feet. Well, she was hovering, but you get the point.

In the stagnate water, a massive bubble formed, and the exploded with a _PLORP! _She breathed an inaudible sound of relief, and continued.

The Foggy Bog was a perfect place to hide. Plenty of cover, from both the natural occurrences and the gases escaping the Earth, plus the of the natural sound effects blurred any blunders by, say, a spy.

The Infiltrator stopped once she reached the thickest part of the bog. White gaseous mist swirled around her, disallowing her from seeing further than five feet ahead. It was hot and sticky. Her robe began to cling to her lean body as she reached into her bag and pulled out a blue orb.

Whispering a few words, The Infiltrator lifted her arms up into the air, orb in hands. It began to glow luminescent blue, and drifted slowly towards the center of the bog.

Mist began to swirl around it. The Infiltrator held her breath as the gases combined, making for a nasty mixture.

Through the foggy vortex shined the blue light, which let out a great burst. The Infiltrator covered her eyes, and waited a good ten seconds before uncovering..

When her arms were lowered, a strange blue mist hung all around her. No more white. Just blue.

_"My Infiltrator…_" came the low, husky growl of a voice. It echoed and reverberated through the mist field, which pulsed bright blue with every syllable spoken. _"What news have your brought with you?"_

It was important to not show fear when talking to her master, but The Infiltrator had to take it a step further. He master could literally feel the fear swimming through your mind. You weren't safe in your own head when in his presence.

"The Council will soon choose a champion to carry out their will," she said, her voice solid in the face of her adversary: fear. I she showed no fear, she'd be fine. But a simple voice-crack, and…

She didn't want to think about it. If she did, her master would know.

Her master let out a noise that sounded like a "Humph." _Will? The Council has no 'Will.' They are nothing. Their lives mean nothing, and their voices mean nothing. They sit in their chairs and hope that votes will give them power. That negotiation will make their body as a whole competent with Legendaries. They are mistaken._

The Infiltrator continued. She never made a comment unless she was absolutely sure it was appropriate, and would not incur her master's wrath. Even the slightest correction from her master would be severe.

"They are having Rem, the Musharna, search dreams to find their candidate."

_Fools. Very similar to their control, dreams are not real. In an altered state of reality, they hope to find their savior? The one to face ME!? They are even more desperate than I had anticipated. _

_But even so, dreams are easily…infiltrated._

The Infiltrator nodded. "Do you wish for me to sabotage their efforts, My Lord?"

_Yes. Do as you will, my Infiltrator. Act at your own discretion. Be thorough, and be savage. Make sure a message is sent to those who would stand against us._

Another nod. "Of course, My Lord."

Seeing someone in person was vital to anticipating what they were thinking; what they were possibly about to do. The Infiltrator saw these things as vital to manipulation and showing that she was in control in a conversation.

Of course, she did not wish to be in control right now. And it was not just a matter of content: she simply accepted that her master was superior in every way.

But still, she could not see his face. She could not see the way his muscles tensed, where his eyes moved. The lips and the throat were also vital to her surveys. If one was licking their lips, or swallowing often, their mouths were dry. A sign of fear and weakness.

The Infiltrator could not tell what her master was thinking. What he was planning. Even what he was doing. If a physical form of him even _existed_!

And so even to his closest lieutenant, The Cold One was an enigma.

_And what of Sehren and his Swarm_, asked The Cold One. A wisp of blue mist brushed by The Infiltrator, sending a chill down her spine.

She knew what it meant. There was a right answer to that question, and if she didn't give it…

"They have invaded the Greentree Forest," she said, voice unwavering. "Prior to doing so, he claims to have tied up his final loose end."

_Has vengeance gotten the better of him?_

"We know not, My Lord. We know not if Serana even _had _a Keystone. But all links to his nemeses have been severed."

_And what of Serana's children? Perhaps they were entrusted with the key, or the Keystone itself._

"If they did, it won't be a problem now, My Lord."

_Oh? And why not?_

"He killed them all."

The Cold One chuckled, the deep boom enough to make a grown Tyranitar curl up in a ball and cry. _Ruthless towards his enemies. His hate made him strong. Let us hope it continues to serve us, not serve against us._

"Agreed. Now, his searches of the area have yet to turn anything up, but he suggests relieving some of his forces to-"

_No. _The Cold One cut her off. _No terms shall be fulfilled until ends meet. His people will not be able to settle until I have what I want. Every tree shall be uprooted from the ground, and crafted into tools to search the land. Every river shall be drained, it's water used to sustain the troops as they search the dry beds. Every bush and every flower shall be plucked, and burned to provide light as every dark corner is searched!_

_Sehren will not have granted his request. Instead, he will have a new one fulfilled._

"I am sorry, My Lord, I don't understand."

_Sehren is receiving help. Whether he likes it or not. He is ruthless, but he has an ulterior motive. This distracts him. It makes him weak. Those I am dispatching have no goal other than to destroy. To kill and maim. It brings them joy. They will show him true…dedication._

"My Lord, you can't mean-"

_I do. And why are you surprised, Infiltrator? _Mist began to dance around her in a circle like flames, preparing to devour her. _Nothing is valuable enough to stand in the way of me and a Keystone. Not even you, Infiltrator. Remember that._

She bowed. "Of course, My Lord."

_Now, go and carry out what is expected of you, Infiltrator. Withdraw for now._

"Of course, My Lord. And I will continued my honorable duty of being your spy.

The Cold One scoffed. _Honorable? Ha! There is a word within your title, Infiltrator. "Traitor." You have betrayed those who trust you. There is no honor in that. Wisdom, yes, but no honor. The horrible truth is that you are a coward, Infiltrator. The honor comes from accepting it, and fulfilling your destiny._

The words stung, but The Infiltrator was stronger than that. She wasn't some emotional teenage girl. And as previously stated, she needed to maintain a straight face, both literally and mentally, before The Cold One.

She bowed one last time. "I shall depart, My Lord."

_Good, _growled The Cold One. _Until next time, my Infiltrator. Do not fail me._ The orb's glow began to fade, and it floated into her waiting hands. The mist turned back to its normal color, and dispersed.

The Infiltrator took in a deep breath, and then exhaled. She could not reflect on the horrible mental ordeal simply being in the presence of The Cold One was.

Your mind began to numb, making it easy for him to sink his teeth into your mind, and enthrall you. It takes a strong mind to resist, even if he doesn't want you as his zombie.

But there was not time to reflect.

She had work to do.

…

"Oz? Might I speak with you?"

The Alakazam turned. He was standing on Watcher's Perch, as the Xatu was currently with Kal'Droma in the Archives.

Oz couldn't blame the crazy old bird for standing up here all the time. It had a marvelous view of a large portion of Poképangea, and beyond.

Especially at night, when the stars were out, dancing all over the majestic blue night sky. Oz had the fortune of picking a crystal clear night, when the sky almost looked blue, and an occasional shooting star would flick across the sky.

"How can I help you, Rem?" Oz asked the Musharna as she floated towards him.

"I believe I have selected a champion."

Oz's eyes widened. "Already?"

The Musharna nodded. "I can sift through dreams rather quickly."

"Well, what have you found?"

She was silent for a moment. It was difficult to see reactions on the face of a Musharna, but Oz didn't need that. He could sense her chief emotion: unsure.

"I could not find a one who met both Legion and Gormus' specifications," said Rem, floating up next to Oz as they gazed up at the night sky together. As if there was something beyond that she wanted him to see…

"I could not find what we were looking for."

Now that baffled Oz. Even in troubling times as these, surely _someone _had to have what it takes. "Not a single Pokémon?"

She shook her head. "They'd have some of the necessary, but also some of the unnecessary. A pure heart, but something or someone holding them back. Unmatched skill, but a heart of darkness."

"So…what did you find?"

"I went further." She took a deep breath, and pink mist began to seep out of her forehead. Oz had seen her do this many times before: she was entering a realm made entirely of dreams. To select the candidate.

Oz didn't want to disrupt the process, but he knew if he was careful, nothing bad would happen. "And?"

"I found a-"

Rem's eyes bulged open, and she let out a sudden shriek, as if she had been struck by a bolt of lightning. She fell to the ground, writhing and squirming. The dream mist ceased flowing, and exploded like a thousand tiny fireworks.

"Rem!" cried Oz, dropping his spoons and getting down on one knee. "Rem, are you alright!?" He felt her shivering body. She was frigid.

"Gotta…hold on…" she grunted, screaming again, before biting her lip and concentrating. "Losing…connection…sabotage!"

She continued to growl and shake, before suddenly stopping and sucking in a deep breath, and relaxing. Her breaths became even, and her temperature went back to normal.

"Rem? Rem, can you hear me? Rem! What happened."

Groaning and wobbling, Rem returned to her usual hover. "Someone…attacked me while I was in the Dream World," she said softly, still weak. "Trying to sever my connection to the champion."

Oz looked into her eyes, not caring about his spoons. "Did they succeed?"

She nodded. "Yes. My connection to the candidate is severed…forever."

Oz bent down and collected his spoons, trying not to let his sorrow show.

But then Rem finished. "But I managed to summon them. Just in time."

Perking back up, Oz dropped his spoons once again as he jumped to his feet. The Musharna was forced back a little.

"Good work, Rem! Good work!" He laughed joyfully. Their plan was going to work!

The sudden outburst of joy was cut short by an unfinished thought. "Erm, Rem? What was it you were saying about the candidate? And what did you mean by 'summon'?"

"Huh? Oh, yes. Our candidate, the one who was exactly what we needed. The one who will end this darkness creeping over our land."

"Rem…who did you find?"

The Musharna giggled. "Isn't it obvious?"

_"I found a human."_

* * *

**Who is this mysterious human? And who were the "marauders" mentioned by The Cold One? Find out soon!...ish...**

**So, OC submissions are nearing their end. I love all of the OCs I've received so far, but fell like I'm receiving a few too many teams. Feel free to submit more, but I'd like to see more solo or even two-man(or woman. I could use some more girls) groups. And they don't all have to be explorers! They can be cops, detectives, scientists, librarians, shopkeepers, lawyers, mapmakers, WHATEVER! Let your imagination run wild! OC submission close soon, so get em in!**

**I expect a few more to show up next chaper, as well. So stay tuned.**

**I think I've decided on my schedule, as well. From now on, I'll be posting these weekly, on Fridays, sometimes special exceptions being made, such as today, as well as on Monday to honor Memorial Day here in the U.S. For those of you who don't know, it replaces the old Decoration Day, which honors those who died in the U.S. Civil War. Good thing the Union won that one. If the Confederacy won, that would've stank... Go Abe Lincoln! So, check back on Friday and Monday, and every Friday after that!**

**And as always, I urge you to review. I get really motivated when I'm in a good mood, such as today, as I received some awesome news. So, if you're reading this and you like, please review! Comment on anything, be it the characters, the plot, or the story in general. Ask questions, whatever! My heart just does a little flutter when I see that another human being likes something I created.**

**So, OCs. What'll it be this time? A Duoision? A Skarmory? A Chikorita? A Sandslash? A Magmar? A Tentacool? It's completely up to you! See ya'll Friday!**


	5. Chapter 5: Damp Ruins and A New Hope!

**Today's chapter will feature a new OC, sent in by HunterKR. Thanks for submitting! On to the chapter!**

* * *

"So…are we going in there?" Amber asked gingerly, gazing into the deep, dark cave.

"Uh-uh! No way, Jose!" Brute reared like a Ponyta and backed up. "I'd rather take my chances with The Swarm!"

He turned and began looking for another way out. The crevice they were in was small. Not just narrow, but small. From where he stood, Brute could see both ends. There was no way for him to escape.

There was always the option of hoisting the kid up, and having her go for help…

No, he told himself, she wouldn't last five minutes.

While he was busy thinking the whole thing through, Amber was stills studying the entrance to the mystery dungeon. "Why not? What's in there?"

"Only what you take with you," Brute said cryptically, a shadow falling over his face. "Well, and the crazy Pokémon, the traps, winding mazes…"

"What exactly _is _ mystery dungeon?"

His injured leg was beginning to ache, so Brute laid down to take some pressure off of it. "A mystery dungeon is a strange, unnatural occurrence in the Earth. They can pop up literally anywhere: in caves, underwater, in the middle of fields…"

"How are the formed?" asked the little Torchic, full of questions. She plopped down in front of Brute. It was sort of an instinctive nature of children, Brute guessed, to sit down when asking elaborate questions. Their bodies knew they'd be there for a while.

Brute stretched his long neck out so that his head was a few feet from hers, as if he were as all as she and facing her directly. "No one truly knows. The last time the appeared was during the Great War. They say the pure chaos of all the tampering with mystics…the Crown of Destiny, the forging of The Gate…caused the very fabric of the universe to flux, creating these strange labyrinths."

"As anyone ever made it through one?"

"All the time. They're dangerous, once they're figured out, it's a piece of cake to get through 'em."

Amber tilted her head to the side. "Figured out?"

"Mystery dungeons are all different, like I said. Their layout constantly moves and rearranges, so no maps can be made. But, space and time are distorted within the mystery dungeons. You could walk in a straight line for ten seconds, taking normal strides, and have travelled hundreds of miles! Or even backwards! And that ten seconds, it could've been three hours up top!"

"Can you travel back in time in a mystery dungeon?" asked Amber.

"No!" snapped Brute. "What are you, stupid? Time travel is impossible!"

"Yeesh, sorry," Amber said into her feathers. She stood back up, and looked above to the jagged tips of the solid ground above them, curling over their prison. "So…how are we gonna get out?"

Before Brute could answer, and clearly address that they were _not _going through the mystery dungeon, he heard a duo of voices from above.

"Hey! C'mere for a minute! I think I found somethin'!"

"What? Is it just another dead refugee? I ain't the one whole handles those, I thought I toldja!"

"No, no, it's like…some sort of hole, or somethin'."

Brute inhaled suddenly, and held his breath. Amber froze from her pacing.

"Bah, who cares!"

"Sehren does, idiot! He told us to check under every single pebble! There could be somethin' in this hole!"

"And what if there isn't?"

"If there isn't, we waste ten seconds. If there is, we make Sehren happy, and we get promoted…"

"Alright, I'll humor ya! A promotion does sound pretty sweet!"

"Doesn't it? Maybe we could climb the ladder high enough to knock that dull-wing Ahz down…"

"Shhh! Don't let him hear you say that!"

As the sound of footsteps and fluttering wings grew closer, Brute made up his mind. Without hesitation, he was on his feet, bolting for the entrance to the mystery dungeon. He grabbed Amber by the feathers on the top of her head, tossed her on his back, and put on all of his extra speed.

They headed into the deep, dark, incarnate uncertainty of the mystery dungeon.

…

"This isn't so bad!" chirped Amber as Brute rounded another corner. So far, they had encountered no enemies, they had lost all signs of their pursuers, and had made considerable progress.

"Sh!" snapped Brute, turning back to the path ahead. The dungeon was dark and damp, water sloshing with Brute's every step. Several dim torches lit the ancient stone mazes that were this dungeon.

It was a good thing Brute allowed Amber to be on his back once again. Should she be on the ground, the water would be up to her lower body, completely submerging her legs.

"What's the problem, Brute?" whispered Amber, "We haven't encountered a single problem yet! Maybe you're just a downer!"

Brute grunted as they headed up a small set of stairs. "The water was cold…"

Amber couldn't help but giggle as Brute proceeded on to the now dry part of the dungeon, elevated above the rest.

Stopping at a four way intersection of paths, the Tropius stretched his long neck around the left and right corners, trying to discern the best path.

Now on dry land, Amber hopped off of his back, and surveyed the left path herself, trying to help out her companion.

She reached the end of the very short hall, and peeked around the corner. Before her was a small square corridor, lit by a few torches. In the center, it's polygonal shadow flickering in the wavering light, was a lone Roggenrola. It had its back to her, and just…stood there.

Amber was about to move forward when Brute's long neck leaned around the corner, and studied the Roggenrola as well.

"Maybe we could ask him for directions," suggested Amber, coming fully around the corner and taking a few steps forward.

Brute twitched, and grabbed her by the tail with his mouth. He pulled her back a few feet, and she whirled around to face him.

"What was that for?" she hissed, before Brute whacked her upside the head with one of his wings.

"You should be thanking me, kid. I just saved you from a world of hurt," said the Tropius crossly as one of his forelegs reached around the corner and coaxed her back. "That over there is a Feral."

The Torchic looked up confusedly at the older Pokémon. "Feral?"

Brute nodded. "Pokémon that just…lose it whenever the mystery dungeons reappear. For some reason, they revert to some primal, animalistic nature. They attack for no reason, and they won't hesitate to snap your little birdy neck."

He jerked his head to the side and made a popping noise with his tongue. Amber stuck her tongue out at him, and then turned back to the Feral Roggenrola. "That's so sad…is there any way we can help."

"If we knock him out, he might come to. Or at least that's what the rumors are…"

"Then help him!" pleaded Amber, her eyes once again extending to the size of milk saucers. That was starting to get annoying… "You're big and strong! You can beat him no problem!"

It took a great deal of power, but Brute refused the little girl what she wanted. _Congrats, _said his conscience, _You just disappointed a baby chicken. You're soooo manly!_

"Shut up!" Brute hissed aloud, before looking down embarrassedly at Amber. "Erm, I mean, it's…uh, not a good idea. Since they've reverted back to that animal mentality, their brains don't develop conscious thoughts, and so their bodies have more to do with the energy they normally use for those things, understand? They have more acute senses. He'd here me coming and call for his buddies! And if you haven't noticed, this is a dead end! I have no idea how many of these jerks are in here."

Once again, he nudged her back with his foreleg. "Now c'mon. The right path looks good. We can go that way."

She was reluctantly lead away by Brute, glancing back at the Roggenrola one last time before he disappeared from view around the corner.

The poor guy…he had no idea where he was, what he was doing. Did he have a job? Friends? A family? Were people missing him right now? These thoughts almost brought a tear to Amber's eye.

She looked up, and realized that she had fell behind Brute by a significant margin. Well, at least for a Torchic.

Amber dashed ahead, trying to catch up with the behemoth, when all of a sudden-

"Oof!" Amber rammed right into one of his hind legs, and was sent flat on her rear. Brute had stopped dead, not fully into the intersection, craning his neck around the corner.

"Who the heck are you?" Brute asked. Who was he talking to?

"We could ask you the same question!" chirped the child-like response. "I suggest you get out of our way before we _make _you!"

"Don't make me laugh," replied Brute crankily. "Listen, I've been in this freaking tunnel for a few hours now. It's cramped, my bones ache, and I wanna get rid of the…package I'm carrying so I can just get on with my life."

The squeaky voice, as well as several others, laughed. "What's the problem, Grass-Type? Can't carry a little luggage?"

Brute growled unhappily. "Does your luggage ask stupid questions 24/7?" He shook his head, trying not to go off on a tangent. "Listen, I don't want any trouble if you don't want any trouble, so I'm just gonna go my own way. I suggest you go yours. Before this gets _ugly_."

Another snicker from the squeaky guy. "That's a nasty lookin' cut you got there, friend. You sure you could take all of us?"

"I'll most certainly do my darndest," growled Brute, spreading his legs and lowing his neck. A grown Tropius, even an injured one, was nothing to scoff when provoked.

"Come at us, then!" came another voice. Amber gasped: it sounded like one of the two voices arguing over whether or not to explore the hole. Obviously, they had chosen the former option over the latter. "You've got a lot of meat on ya, buddy! We're gonna have a lot of little mouths to feed pretty soon!"

Amber had enough of not knowing what was going on. She peeked her head around the corner, ever so slightly. Standing in the hallway they had recently come through was a group of Bug-Type-Pokémon.

Flanking the left and right of the group were two Pinsir, their head-jaws reflecting the torches they were holding. In the middle of them hovered a Dustox, and below him, a Karrablast.

Trying to get a better look, Amber leaned a bit further, slipping and falling on the damp ground. All four Bug-Types noticed her.

Brute shuddered, his eyes widening. He had obviously wanted to keep her presence a secret.

"Well, well, well," said the Karrablast, claiming his ownership of the squeaky voice. "What have we here? A Torchic?"

"Woah-ho!" said one of the Pinsirs. "Sehren told us to look out for those!" He playfully punched the Dustox, causing it to flutter out of control for a second. "See, toldja we'd find something good down here!"

"Your boss told you to look for Torchic?" Brute asked, seeking clarification. What would Bug-Types want with a Torchic…sure they were rare, but why? To collect?

"Yup!" said the same Pinsir. "Said we get a special reward if we find one?"

"Oh? What is he offering you?"

The Dustox licked her lips. "He said we'd get to cook it and eat it."

Amber tensed up. Brute gave her a sideways glance and a nervous smile. "I was thinking more on terms of money…"

"Think again, brute!" cried the Karrablast, shaking his comically tiny fist. "Money could never drive us to betray our great leader Sehren! Now hand over the Torchic or suffer?"

Brute knew it was a coincidence, but he decided he'd mess with this guy a little before he launched his plan. "How did you know my name?"

The Karrablast had his reason why Brute should hand her over pre-loaded, and was taken by surprised by Brute's question. "Because-wait, what? Is _Brute _really your name?"

"It's a family name," he lied, enjoying a private laugh. "And fine, you can have the Torchic."

Amber nearly jumped out of her feathers. "WHAT!?" She knew Brute was kind of selfish, but he was willing to sacrifice a little girl to save his own skin!?

He scanned the Bug-Types quickly with his eyes, and then leaned over to whisper into Amber's ears. "Did you get the treasure?" he whispered.

"Wha-no! No I didn't! And I don't wanna talk about this 'treasure 'right now! You're giving me to _them_!? How could you-?"

Brute straightened back up and smiled, getting the exact reaction he had wanted from the Torchic. Now, assuming Dustox had as good a sense a hearing as he had heard…

They did. The Dustox fluttered down to the Karrablast. "Boss," she whispered, "I heard that Tropius mutter something about treasure in the room down that hall…"

The Bug-Type leader's eyes widened. "Secure the treasure!" he shouted, pointing down the hallway, the two Pinsir took off, brushing by Brute and ignoring him completely. The Dustox fluttered over his head. "This could be what Lord Sehren is looking for!"

The Clamping Pokémon took off himself, running past Amber on his tiny little legs. Brute grinned as he reached out one of his hind legs, tripping the Karrablast.

He fell on his rounded back, wobbling back and forth, his tiny arms and legs flailing, unable to flip himself over. "Grah!" he cursed. "Brute!"

The Tropius chuckled. "What?"

"ARRRRRGH! Someone help me up!"

Just as the last Pinsir disappeared around the corner, a hellish screech echoed through the dungeon.

"ROOOOOOOOOOO!"

The Dustox was slammed against the back wall, bits of a rocky projectile falling to the ground as she slid down the wall.

Brute cringed when he heard one of the Pinsir scream, followed by a sickly crunch. He decided that was enough for the little girl when the other one tried to run, only to trip and be dragged back into the corridor, kicking and screaming, by a small army of Geodude.

The two companions turned away, and started heading down the left path.

"Help! Help!" cried the Karrablast as the vanished around the corner. "Y-you can't just leave me!"

"Sure can," said Brute uninterestedly, turning the corner and exiting the Karrablast's line of sight.

"I-I'll pay you!" shrieked the Karrablast, pleading for his life.

"Ha," Brute said, literally saying the word "Ha", intentionally lacking emotion when he said it. "Money could never drive me to betray my great sense of not giving a-"

His front wings came down, covering Amber's ears as he finished his sentence, as well as the sounds that came from behind them, as the Ferals finally reached the Karrablast.

…

"Nehehehe!" laughed Finn the Sableye as he and his compatriot, Carol, strolled casually through the crowded streets of the Quarrysville Marketing District. Due to the omnipresent noise that was almost natural in the part of town, the two didn't have to worry about saying something they'd regret.

"That that little sucker didn't even know I nabbed his wallet!" laughed Finn waving it so that Carol could see.

Carol scoffed. "It never stops bein' funny, but still. That kid was, like, six. We're movin' onto the big time, and you just wanna waste our precious minutes stealin' from some baby?"

"Eh, you're right," said Finn, fishing through the wallet. "He doesn't even have any good stuff. Barely ten Poké, a few barriers, and-"

The lead Sableye pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. He stopped, and unrolled it, revealing a faded painting of a Gardevoir standing next to a Gallade. The Gallade had his arm lovingly wrapped around the Gardevoir's shoulder, as his other hand was reaching up to touch the baby cradled in the Gardevoir's arms. They both stared down at the baby lovingly

"Aw," said Finn sarcastically, crumpling up the paper and throwing it on the ground, "The baby has a picture of his mommy and daddy!"

He let out a squawk when Carol slapped him upside the head. He grumbled and rubbed the spot. "Quit wastin' time! Remember, the boss told us we had to strong-arm those phonies who're stealin' our business! They set up shop on the East Road. Tryin' to tax people comin through!"

"Ha!" laughed Finn, forgetting about his bruise. "What a dumb idea!"

Carol put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot knowingly. "Mm-hm. Tell me, what was your opinion on the matter when you thought of the exact same idea a couple weeks back?"

The male Sableye was about to try and preserve his manhood in the face of his female counterpart, when all of a sudden a Dewott, followed by a huffing and puffing Ralts, skid around the corner.

"Thief!" shouted the Dewott, running at them with vigor. "Stop right there!"

"Eep!" Finn tensed, nearly dropping the wallet. While it really was a small-time prize, Finn never gave up loot. He was the best thief in the world! And he had to keep his title.

Although he was just a lackey, Finn was no dope. He knew better than to start a fight in the middle of the Markets. And even if he wasn't the one who started it, the Town Guards would find out that he had stolen from the kid, one way or another, leaving him with one option.

"Run!" he shrieked, and he and Carol beat feet down the road.

"Stop!" cried Takeru, dashing past the crumpled piece of paper on the ground, the breeze he generated as he whizzed by kicking it into the air, and right into Arthur's face.

He stumbled back a step, and caught the paper in his hands. Unfolding it, he let out a very loud sob. Takeru stopped and turned around to face his friend. "C'mon, Arthur, they're gonna get away!"

The Ralts didn't move. Sniffling, and holding back tears, he slowly unfurled the paper, and smoothed it the best he could.

Takeru was used to seeing his buddy depressed, but never sobbing. He jogged hastily over to him.

"Hey, buddy, what's the problem?" asked the Dewott, looking over his friend's shoulder.

"I-It's a painting my parents had done before they died," he said shakily, tears beginning to makes their way down his face. "This is the only thing I have to remember them by…"

"Here," said Takeru, gently relieving Arthur of the paper. He folded it neatly, and put it in his bag. "Now, let's go and do your folks proud."

Arthur sniffled and wiped his face. "Okay…"

The two took off, once again in pursuit of the thieves.

…

"Do ya…do ya think we lost em?" huffed Finn as he and Carol trotted to a halt. They had run for nearly fifteen minutes all over town, ducking through alleyways and crossing streets. They had no idea what part of town they were in.

Hands on her knees and panting, Carol looked up. "East gate…" she huffed, wiping some saliva off of her chin. "We're at the east gate."

"Sweet. Well, then let's-"

Both Darkness Pokémon's heads flicked behind them as they heard a familiar, and now very annoying, voice.

"Did you see a couple of Sableye run by here?"

"Why, yes, I think I did. They went that way."

"Thank! C'mon, Arthur!"

"Kay!"

The two froze again. "Run!" was the simplest and best plan. The two made their way to the east gate, trying their best to avoid bumping into the Pokémon that were flowing in, not always successfully.

"Watch it, pal!" snapped a Vigoroth, shoving him down.

Carol helped him onto his feet, shot a quick look over her shoulder, and the two bolted once more.

They made their way down the cobblestone path leading up to the Quarrysville east gate. The terrain ahead was rocky, with plenty of large boulders protruding from the ground like bumps on a Seismitoad's back. The perfect place to hide.

"C'mon, Carol!" cried Finn, looking back at his companion as he ran. "We can-oof!"

The lead Sableye bumped into something large and immovable, sending him back on his rear. "Oww, watch it pa-a-a-alllll…" His sentence ended with a squeak.

Towering over him was a Blaziken, easily 6'5". He blotted out the setting sun, casting a shadow around his being, the sunlight poking out from around him.

And in Finn's opinion, Blaziken in general didn't need any help from natural special effects to look intimidating.

"You were saying?" asked the Blaziken in a profound, stoic voice. This guy sounded like he meant business, but was more annoyed at the two than he was angry.

"J-just watch where you're going, o-okay?" stammered Finn as he tried to get to his feet, but stumbled back and fell on his bottom again.

"Humph," grunted the Blaziken, almost amused by the two's squirming. Carol, with a look of horror and awe on her face, was trying to hoist her partner up. She finally succeeded, but Finn lost his grip on Arthur's wallet.

He went to quickly reach for it, which caught the Blaziken's eye. His foot quickly stomped down on the leather pouch.

"H-hey," stammered Finn, "Th-that's my-"

"Oh really?" interrupted the Blaziken, making Finn gulp. "Because I get the feeling it's not."

"That's his!" snapped Carol, fed up with this guy's attitude. Just because he was a Blaziken, didn't mean he was tough, and a lot of people these days should learn that.

These Pokémon who's species had a reputation would just go around like they were bad. Well, this guy had another thing coming!

"Just because you're a Blaziken, doesn't mean-"

"Shut up," he put forcefully, not yelling. He bent over and picked up the wallet. Finn at first reached out his arms, but upon realizing it was futile, withdrew and began mumbling under his breath.

Finn gulped, his arms still trembling. "L-listen, buddy. I-If you d-don't give that back, I-I'll…m-my boss w-will…he'll have your head on a plate!" he finally managed to shriek out, flinching once he got the Blaziken's stabbing reaction.

"Oh, really?" He bent over, and before Finn could run, he had the Sableye by the collar area of his dark, oily skin. "I think I might just let you go to tell your boss to bring it on."

Pulled closer to the Blaziken's face, Finn could see the red black-holes this creature called pupils. He whimpered and hid his face.

"Hey! Mister!" The Blaziken looked up, and saw two young Pokémon, a Dewott and a Ralts, halt their running just past the second Sableye, who backed up a bit. The Ralts stood panting, and the Dewott looked furious. Both of its black paws were each handling a scalchop, ready to whip it out.

"You know this guy?" asked the Blaziken, holding him out further and jostling him a bit. The Dewott nodded.

"Well, he stole my friend's wallet, so I guess that counts."

A growl escaped the lips of the Blaziken, who slammed Finn back onto the ground. He whimpered, and scooched his way back to Carol, who helped him up.

"Scum like you make me sick. Now beat it!" He flicked his shoulders forward like he was about to lunge at them, and they took off, nearly tripping over each other on their way back.

The Dewott stared up at him in a state of admiration. Without breaking his gaze, he whacked the Ralts on the shoulder, who mumbled and rubbed the spot. "Oh, uh, thanks mister."

"No problem," he said as he slid the wallet back to Arthur with his foot. The Ralts fell to his knees and began sifting through the bag, checking its contents. Everything was still there: all the money, all of the items and berries (albeit a little mashed up).

Gathering his thing, Arthur slowly got to his feet. He reached into his wallet and scooped up all of the Poké inside. He held out his hands. "This is all I have, sir. Please take it."

The Blaziken was dumbfounded for a second. This kid almost lost everything, and now he was giving it away anyways?

He shook his head. "You didn't ask me to do it. I acted on my own convictions." And with that, he turned and began to walk down the path, away from town.

Arthur hesitated for a second, and then stuffed the Poké back into his wallet. As he was tying the laces shut, Takeru tapped him on the shoulder eagerly.

"Dude!? That guy helped us out! Maybe-"

"No," said Arthur, very softly and very monotone. "He looked like he had something important to do. And besides, why would he team up with us?"

Takeru clenched his fists and shook with excitement. "I dunno! But come one, we can at least ask!" He took off down the path after their savior, Arthur hesitating before chasing after his friend on another one of his harebrained schemes.

"Wait up!" The Blaziken stopped and half-turned to see the Dewott, followed by the Ralts, headed for him. He groaned.

"I thought I told you I didn't want any money," he said gruffly as the Dewott skidded to a stop mere inches away from him. The kid looked excited…a little too excited for his tolerance.

The Dewott quickly licked his lips, and started rocking back and forth on his heels as if thinking on how he should present something. "Well, Arthur and I have been trying to form an Exploration Team for some time now, and-"

"No," he said, flatly and plainly, turning to leave again. This put a temporary damper on Takeru's plan, but not for long. Depressed faded faster than it came, and he caught up to try again.

"But, you know, this world really needs help cleaning up criminals! If the three of us work together-"

"I work alone," he replied, this time without stopping or looking back.

"Listen, mister…uh…"

"Syamo," he answered to further his goal of shutting this Dewott up.

"Syamo…you aren't doing anything currently, are you?"

"Yes," he stopped and turned fully this time, "as a matter of fact, I am."

His eyes narrowed, and his voice lowered as he tried to intimidate the two younglings with his tale. "I'm training to fight a group of very dangerous opponents, by taking down smaller outlaws one at a time. They are powerful beyond compare, and unlike Exploration Teams, or even people with a plain set of morals, they have no code. No restrictions.

"They are ruthless. Killing machines. They've ended more explorers than have signed up for the Federation in the past six months. Five times as many outlaws."

Arthur finally caught up, panting heavily. "They don't…sound that bad…"

Syamo's eyes lit up and his fists clenched. "-and ten times as many innocents."

Arthur gulped, causing him to choke, as his throat was dry. As his friend tried to salivate, Takeru continued on.

"Well, we could come with you on your next mission!" he said hopefully. He drew his scalchops, and they grew to their full length of about one foot and glowed blue. "Then you can see how tough we really are! I trained under the Samurott Swordskill back home! I look a lot tougher than I really am."

"The answer is no!" snapped Syamo, half-yelling. He pointed at Takeru, whose hopeful expression faded to that of disappointment. "You're too young and too weak to be of any help! You'd just get in my way, and probably get killed in the process! Now go home before someone starts to worry about you!"

He took a deep breath, and began to head back on his path. Arthur watched him go for a few seconds before speaking. "My parents are dead. I'm an orphan."

Syamo stopped dead. "I'm sorry," he muttered softly, and then continued on, this time not stopping.

The two friends watched as Syamo disappeared in a dip of the hills, and then reappeared; further away, walking up another hill, before disappearing one last time.

Not two seconds after that, Takeru spoke. "Let's go after him!" he said, adventurously, grabbing Arthur by the shoulder. He yanked away.

"No way! He said not to come! Let's just go back; you're late for work anyway…"

The smaller Pokémon turned back towards Quarrysville, happy he got his wallet back, but sad that another attempt to form a team was shot down.

Once again, he was grabbed by the shoulder and flipped around. "But dude, we can prove ourselves to him! He'll see how great we are, and he'll join us for sure! By the way he was sounding; he's taking down tougher and tougher enemies."

The visionary Dewott pulled Arthur close, the two of them now shoulder to shoulder. He looked up, and waved his arm as if revealing a vision in the sky.

"Picture this: Syamo gets to this place, and he's outnumbered! He fights valiantly, but he ultimately can't handle the sheer numbers!"

Laughing, Takeru shoved Arthur away. He stumbled, but managed to catch his balance. He squeaked when one of Takeru's scalchops took full form, stopping right in his face.

The Dewott held the knight-like pose, standing like he was about to take part in a fencing match. "And then we show up, and-"

He swung the blade over his shoulder. "Swoosh!" He arced it down. "Slash!" He stabbed the air. "Shink! We come in and save the day!"

"I don't know…" said the skeptical Ralts. It wasn't that he doubted all of Takeru's plans, it was just that…not all of them were good. And a lot had the not always slight possibility of Arthur shattering every bone in his small body. "What about your job?"

"Pah!" The Dewott waved his hand in a "Forget about it" motion. "I'll just say I got sick and you had to take me home!" He grabbed Arthur's hand and began to lead him down the rocky road.

"Now come on! Our destiny awaits us!"

* * *

**Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back reference FTW! One thing you guys should know about me if you don't already is that I cannot resist little dialogue Easter-Eggs in my stories. See if you can point them all out! Ha, you can try...and the title was not intended to be a Star Wars reference. Just so ya know.**

**Andywho, Syamo the Blaziken was submitted by HunterKR, just to clarify. And we got to learn the names of Pokekid543's Sableye OCs, Carol and Finn! Thanks guys! Keep sending in OCs, submissions don't last much longer. And again, I must stress that it is getting harder and harder to incorporate full teams, unless they get minuscule cameos, and I want everyone to play a nice big part!**

**So, what Pokemon will you submit next? A Shelmet? A Pikachu? An Electrode? A Zigzagoon? A Houndour? I dunno, that's why I'm asking you!**

**Please review, and I'll see you on Monday for the special Memorial Day chapter! It doesn't have anything to do with the holiday per say, just in honor of it...so...yeah...cya...**


	6. Chapter 6: Closer

**Previously on Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Destiny**

**Out of options and facing The Swarm, Brute and Amber were forced into the Dampened Ruins, a mystery dungeon not too far from Greentree Forest. The two made good progress, until encountering their first Feral: a poor Pokemon who's mind simply left when the mystery dungeon appeared, turning it into a mindless hunting machine. The twosome then ran into a scouting team from The Swarm, who reveal that they are under orders from someone named Sehren, and have been explicitly told to watch for Torchics. Some quick thinking on Brute's part saved his and Amber's lives, as well as revealing one last thing: Sehren is looking for some sort of treasure. Meanwhile, Takeru and Arthur meet Syamo, a Blaziken who stopped the thieves Carol and Finn from stealing Arthur's wallet. A plea to join up with the two failed, yet Takeru urged Arthur to follow Syamo on his quest, and prove themselves on the way. How will this pan out? Stay tuned to find out!**

**Today we will be introduced to the wonderful OCs submitted by Mew Anzu. Keep sending em in, ladies and gents! Not much longer.**

**Enjoy, and happy Memorial Day!**

* * *

The sound of heavy breathing echoed through the Dampened Ruins as Brute charged as fast as he could through the chiseled stone hallways, a pack of Feral Geodude hot on his metaphorical tail.

With her talons, Amber dug into Brute's skin, holding on for dear life. This caused a minor pinching sensation in Brute's skin, but that wasn't even the second harshest pain he was currently facing.

The second-to-worst hurt was his burning lungs, obviously working in overdrive to keep him running so fast and for such a distance.

And still a burden, the king-of-sting for Brute was the injury given to him by that stupid Beedrill. It felt now like someone was sticking a pair of burning hot tongs into his skin and pulling the clamps apart. Since his leg was now sticky from it pouring out earlier, he no longer felt his own blood as it left him.

He began to feel lightheaded, swaying a bit and bumping into the walls. _Stay in there_, he thought, addressing the blood, _Daddy needs you…_

Apparently, she had finally wizened up and realized his ragged breathing, as Amber chose _now _as to ask if he was okay.

"Brute, are you alright?" she chirped, her eyes shut tightly as she was jostled about on the Tropius' back.

"Nope…huff huff…" replied Brute, his throat raw and itchy, "This is just…huff huff…this is just my morning routine, kid. Gotta…gotta keep healthy, you know."

Brute screamed in pain and stumbled as he was caught in the hip by a Rock Blast. He gritted his teeth in a vain effort to distract himself from the new pain.

"Kid," he grunted, his voice slightly muffled by his tightened jawline, "You're gonna have to help me! Use your Ember attack!"

The young girl gulped, knowing that Brute was right. He needed her help right now, and she was unsure whether or not she would be able to deliver.

She didn't bother with "I can't." She didn't waste his time with, "I don't think I can!" She closed her eyes, and focused.

Ignoring the bouncing and jerking of Brute's body, Amber focused on breathing in, and out. In, and out. Complete focus was needed.

Amber took a deep breath in, and puffed out her cheek. She felt the familiar sensation of her throat being tickled by the flames welling up, and did her best to focus those flames so that she didn't just burp smoke like when she usually tried.

And then she released. A small ball of fire shot out of her beak, and she was propelled back into the base of Brute's long neck. She opened her eyes just to see the Ember strike a Geodude square in the face, sending it rolling back.

"I did it!" cried Amber, catching her breath. "I-I finally did it!"

She didn't get the sarcastic congratulations she expected from Brute. Instead, she got, "Hold on tight!"

"Huh?"

Brute turned hard, slamming into a wall. If it wasn't a wall he had turned into, if there had been nothing for Amber to crash against, she would have fallen.

As Brute's bulk met the wall, Amber had yet to fully process what he had said. She stumbled to the right, bouncing off of the wall and hitting one of Brute's wings. She learned her lesson, and clung back on as Brute took off without a second's hesitation.

Unknown to the both of them, Brute had left a cracked indent in the stone wall. The spider-web of tiny crevices slithered across the surface, small spouts of water shooting out.

If left alone, it would have been fine. But, a swarm of Feral Geodude just _had _to come crashing into it.

As the Geodude skidded to a stop at the corner, the slid into the wall, and as more came, more accumulated and put pressure on the wounded structure.

While a complicated process, it took about two seconds. As soon as enough Geodude had crashed into the wall, it burst. A massive current of water flowed out, enveloping the Geodude and sweeping them down the halls.

"Great!" cried Brute, hearing the roar behind him. "Now they're angry!"

Even knowing she wouldn't like what she saw, Amber turned, and gulped. Instead of seeing a bloodthirsty boulders, she saw something arguably worse.

"Water!" she cried, unable to think of any other words to describe the situation.

"It's gonna have to wait!" growled Brute, struggling to press on.

"No! A current of water it about to sweep us up!"

"What!?" Brute looked back and hesitated for a split second and looked back, which allowed the current to sweep them up. Not that it would have mattered, it only made the process quicker.

The current pushed them dutifully down the hallway. Brute was no swimmer, but his massive frame and powerful frame proved useful, as he was able to remain at the stem of the powerful tide.

"Hold on, kid!" he cried, kicking and paddling to stay afloat. They were pushed further and further through the ruins, automatically twisting and turning around corners as if they were on some sort of maniacal ride.

Amber stumbled back and forth on Brute's back, trying her darndest to keep from falling into the rushing white rapids. Every now and then, the cress of a wave would shoot up and sting her face.

Needless to say, she hoped it would be over soon.

As she made her way to the base of Brute's neck to try and find a more secure spot to stand, she squinted as something pierced through the tunnel. Light.

"H-hey!" she said, squinting and moving forward, stumbling and hitting Brute's neck as she did. "I think I see a light!"

Over the roar of the rapids, it was hard for Brute to hear. He turned his to look at her, his long neck allowing him to do so as he still went forward. "What!? We'll sink, so say goodnight? Kinda pessimistic, don't you think, kid?"

"No!" she screamed, a bit annoyed at the mistranslation. "I-think-I-see-a-light!"

"If you think you wanna fight, think again! Kinda struggling for survival here!"

"I-THINK-I-SEE-A-"

Said light was penetrated by a geyser of water, propelling Brute and Amber out of the dungeon. The light had been an exit!

Unfortunately, said exit was a small scar in a sheer cliff. The twosome was hundreds off of the ground.

Feeling the rush of air and the absence of water, the two looked down, and then back at each other.

And then they plummeted.

The rush of water had now been replaced by the rush of atmosphere, racing past their ears as gravity ushered them to their doom.

"Brute!" cried Amber, now drifting a few feet above Brute as they fell. "Those wings would come in handy now, wouldn't they?"

Brute looked up at her. "You think you want some candy now, because you're-"

"BRUTE!"

The Tropius chuckled, despite the grim situation. "Yeah, I know I was just kidding." The joke now over, his face donned a focused expression, and Brute went to work.

He pointed his body down at an angle, straitening his neck. He then spread his wings, and with a mighty flap, broke the momentum of the fall, and was now soaring.

He swiveled his wings, allowing him to turn, and circled around. Amber's shrieking was interrupted by an "Oof!" of her own creation as she landed on Brute's back.

"Thanks!" said the Torchic breathlessly, as she shook her head and regained her composure.

Brute grunted, as he turned gently as to not disturb Amber's position. He was now in the air, the main turf of a Flying-Type like himself. Well, technically Flying was his sub-type, and the forest was his real home, but with wings, he was still afforded all the leisure he wanted.

He did have to abide by the wind, mind you, but the gentle zephyrs were being very cooperative right now, blowing at his back: the place you always want the wind.

"Do you know where we are?" chirped Amber, her voice much less muffled now that they were gently cruising in altitude.

"No, but we're definitely much closer," said Brute, looking down. Hugging the mountain that the dungeon had ended on was a yellow dirt path, snaking through the rolling green fields that spanned Brute's entire line of sight. "That's the highway leading to Quarrysville. We follow that, and we're golden."

_That tunnel must've taken us much farther than I had anticipated, _mused Brute as they soared over the grasslands. _I was anticipating at least a week's travel to get us to Quarrysville. Well, at least I'll be able to get rid of this kid sooner…_

…

"Bah, this was a dumb idea anyway!" The Galvantula flipped over the "toll booth" his lackeys had whipped up a few days ago from scrap wood. He could barely fit inside of it, which is why his men were in there instead. The thing was a glorified box.

"Yeah, what a stupid idea!" said one of the two Pokémon who had squeezed inside, a Ditto, in a squeaky rubber-like voice. "Who even thought-a that, anyways?"

The other Pokémon, a Crustle, scratched his head with his claw. "Duh…wasn't it Casper?" he said in that stereotypical big, dumb, henchman tone of voice.

Casper, the Galvantula, huffed. "Well, you guys let me go through with it, which makes it your fault!" With his left foreleg, which had a black bandana tied around it, he whacked the Crustle upside the head. "Thanks for wasting our time, Rim!"

The Ditto cackled. "Yeah, Rim, thanks for-ow!" He received a similar whack, making his gelatinous body jiggle uncontrollably.

Rim did his also stereotypical "big dumb henchman" laugh. "It's funny when you hit Butch…"

Casper's yellow hair bristled, and a tiny shape crawled up onto his head. It was a Joltik, the puny pre-evolution of Galvantula.

"Why did you hit him?" she squeaked innocently, not being rhetorical, but genuinely and innocently confused. "Hitting is wrong."

All of Caper's eyes moved upwards to look at her. "Because, Peony, Butch is an idiot. And he made me hit him. So that makes it okay!"

"Oh! Okay then!" She scuttled back onto his back, where she usually liked to stay. Ever since Casper had "liberated" her from their controlling parents, he kept his little sister with him at all times, even when dealing with his…business.

You see, Casper liked to see himself as an investor. A business-mon, if you will. He offered several services, such as protection. Keeping dangerous secrets away from people that shouldn't receive those dangerous secrets. Not destroying things.

Services like that. People paid him, and he fulfilled those "services." Although sometimes, his "clients" needed a little "convincing." And some of said "clients" had as of late been getting a little wise.

As of late, his clients had been alerting the local police about his business transactions, most of which weren't "legal," per say.

Casper and his gang, Team Nasty, weren't raking in the amount of revenue that they were used to. And so, they started this little side business. Which had yet to pay off.

"Listen, you two," said Caper, giving the "angry spider stare" to his two lackeys. They both gulped. They knew what the "angry spider stare" usually meant: yelling and pain. "We need money! So if any of ya'll gots any ideas-"

Something down the road caught Rim's eye. He peeked slightly around Casper, and freaked out.

"Predator!" he cried, retreating into his large, cubicle shell. Butch transformed into a rock, and Peony jumped and squeaked, burying herself deeper in Casper's fur.

In fact, even Casper had been spooked a bit, skittering wildly in half circles, trying to get a good look at the thing.

The caster of the shadow, a Tropius, soared over their heads, bound for Quarrysville some thirty miles down the road.

"Relax, you morons!" snapped Caser, tapping Rim's shell with his foot. "It was just a Tropius."

The rock Butch had transformed into jiggled and turned pink, and then revealed his true form. "Aw, man! If our toll booth wasn't limited to the ground-" He smiled, and looked up at Casper hopefully.

The Galvantula scowled. "If you finish that thought, I swear I will hit you!"

Once more, Peony skittered onto Casper's head. "A Tropius? I've always wanted to see a Tropius!"

Casper had been known to give his sister whatever her miniscule spider heart desired. One might even say he spoiled her.

He reached up with one of his forelegs and tickled the Joltik. She squeaked, a small spark of electricity shooting out of her.

"You wanna see a Tropius, huh? Well-"

"I gotcha covered, boss!" Butch's body collapsed inward on itself, and then began to expand. When he finished, a massive Tropius stood before Casper and Peony, except with the usual tell-tale signs of a Ditto transformation.

When Ditto transformed, they usually turned into a more faded color of the Pokémon they were copying. Also, they retained their own eyes, leaving Butch with the same dopey expression no matter what form he took.

"She means a real Tropius, you moron!" Butch transformed back, allowing Casper to hit him. "And is she wants a Tropius, than she's gonna get a Tropius…"

…

Mo didn't participate in the cliché "taking of the deep breath as you walked into a new place and about to do something" as he walked into the Pelipper Post Office. He just walked in.

Most Pelipper Post Offices were shaped like actual Pelipper. This one, however, was different. In fact, its design was the pioneer for a new archetype of Post Offices. It basically looked like one massive, round bubble, with two more attached.

The main "bubble" was obviously for the main service of a mail service: mail. Seventy-five percent of this "bubble" was free for Pokémon to talk and congregate, while the other twenty-five percent was separated from the rest by a counter, where mail was received and distributed, and behind that was where mail and packages were stored and prepared for shipping.

On the right bubble was the hub for Explorers seeking jobs, amongst other things. The Request Boards were posted there, where Explorers, both Teams and Indies(the nickname given to independent explorers) could find Pokémon in need of their assistance.

Also in that area were the Leaderboards. There were two ranked categories: Teams and Indies. For each category there were the regional leaderboards, where Teams and Indies from this area were ranked, and the second one, obviously, was where every Team and Indie on the continent was ranked.

The Federation had put this system up to keep competition between Explorers hot. They _liked _competition. The _encouraged_ it.

This system wasn't selfish or sadistic. The brass didn't put it in place just to mess with the Explorers. Many saw it as a blessing.

If you wanted to be on top, you had to do a lot of requests, and do them well. And the more requests done, the more people are made safe and happy, which is good for everyone. With this competition, more missing Pokémon were found, more maps were made, and more outlaws were put away.

The amount of "wins" this game achieved was incalculable. A true stroked of genius.

And what came from being on top you ask? Well, more people come to the more prestigious groups with their requests, which get done to a better degree (which is the brass's reward). But what do the Explorers get?

Fame and fortune, of course. A high-stakes job comes with high-stakes pay. And high-stakes pay is, well, high!

Mo was looking to be up there. One of these days, he'd walk into this Post-Office and hear someone say, "Aw, man! Team Mo is still at the top!"

And while he'd feel a little bad for whoever was despairing over his success, hey, it was success nonetheless, right.

Each goal came with steps to achieve said goal. And Step One right now was finding a job Mo could tackle on his own…

…and not get caught. See, taking a request without being a legitimate Explorer was kind of against the law. But to get legitimized, there were a few tests to take and papers to sign, yes but there was one major component to being ratified as an explorer.

The Federation can't just have anyone saunter into their embassy and become an Explorer, a member of the Federation's right-hand organization, right?

No, they can't. To become and Explorer, or form an Exploration Team, you must have someone speak on your behalf. Someone the Federation Tribunal recognizes as "reliable."

That's why so many seek to join teams instead of forming their own or just becoming an Explorer themselves. Sometimes, it's not just a matter of how strong you were, it was that you just couldn't get someone to vouch for you.

Right now, Mo didn't really have that. But if he was able to prove himself, maybe by doing a request or two, he'd have someone to speak on his behalf.

Making his way through the garish throng of Explorers, Mo found himself before the Request Board. Pinned all over it were letters and notices, all requesting help on some problem, whether it be rescuing a lost friend to retrieving an item lost somewhere.

Mo fingered through a few helps ads. He didn't want to do something too far away. Preferably, the job would be right around town.

After a few minutes of looking, he determined that there was nothing within a radius of twenty miles, the closest help request being the Yellow Forest.

Taking a slight breath, Mo turned a few degrees to the right, and faced the outlaw board. Maybe there was a capture around town he could assist in…

Mo knew that he shouldn't test his limits too much: when he saw the words "Warlord" on one of the adds he picked up, he put it right back. He was hoping for something more along the lines of gangster or "petty thief."

Well, maybe not petty, just a normal thief. He didn't want it to look _too_ easy.

Finally, he plucked an add off of the board that seemed just right. A small-time gang called Team Nasty was operating an illegal road block a little down the highway, and the Federation wanted it dealt with.

These guys seemed easy enough to take down: a team consisting of a Galvantula, a Crustle, and a Ditto. While the Galvantula was the largest of his concerns, Mo had trained especially to avoid Type disadvantages, plus it would look cooler once he beat a superior Type.

The Rock Sub-Type of the Crustle would play to his advantage, as the big and lumbering nature of the Pokémon would allow him to get in a few Leaf Blades, and down him fast.

As for the Ditto, Mo was confident in his knowledge of his own body. He knew his own weak points and limits, which the Ditto would be subject to if he copied Mo's form.

And if he had to go so low as to do this, Mo knew where he was ticklish. And tickling is a Ditto's kryptonite.

Opening up his shoulder bag, Mo pocketed the request and prepared to leave, only to come face-to-face with the Post Office's resident loser, Guy.

And Mo wasn't going to sugarcoat it: Guy was a loser. The Bibarel wasn't good at anything, and not in the way Mo was. Mo just hadn't found his niche in the Explorer game yet. Guy simply screwed up anything and everything he did.

Which is why the Postmaster took pity on him, and made him the "Official Guard" of the Post Office. Because everyone knows a villain's ultimate goal is to steal another Pokémon's bills…

Well, to be fair, two Town Guards were stationed in here, but that was just because they're running out of places to put them at this point…

"So, Mo, you've become an Explorer, eh?" said Guy in a crackly, pathetic voice for such a large Pokémon as he.

"No," said Mo monotone, crossing his arms. With most Pokémon, Mo clearly showing disinterest would show them up. With Guy, he simply didn't take hints. Which is why he was a terrible guard: he couldn't read expressions, like pretty much _anyone else_ could.

"Oh really?" said Guy in a lofty tone, as if talking down to Mo. See, Mo thought it was funny because Guy wasn't actually better than him. "Because I just saw you stick an Outlaw Notice into your bag, and according to Federation Rule Number Seventeen, Paragraph Three-"

Another thing about Guy: he held rules sacred. Which was how Mo always managed to outsmart him (which wasn't a difficult feat).

Mocking horror, Mo gasped and looked around Guy. "Is that guy _loitering!?_"

Immediately, Guy flipped around, shoulders hunched and ready to catch the perpetrator. Mo snickered as he slowly walked away and out the door, ready to set out on his unofficial mission.

"Citizen, halt!" Mo stopped and jolted at the sound of the stern (and somewhat squeaky) voice of a Tow Guard. He turned to see an approaching male Frillish, otherwise known as 99.9% of the Town Guard.

You see, in Quarrysville live a husband and wife, two Jellicent, whom the townsfolk refer to as Grandpa and Grandma, respectively. They are among the oldest residents of the town.

Every year, Grandma, the owner of a local inn, lays a clutch of a couple dozen eggs. Out of those eggs come their children, the Frillish. The minority of the spawns, the females, usually work at the inn with Grandma, or serve as secretaries and assistants for the police force.

The majority of the hatchlings, the males, serve under Grandpa, the captain of the Town Guard. Volunteers were still welcome to join, and there were plenty of them, but the backbone of the core itself were the Frillish.

The sisters usually acted the way they looked: happy, joyful, willing to help. The color pink really suited them. Their red, beady eyes usually didn't draw attention any more than the rest of their bodies.

Their brothers, however, were more complemented by the crimson peepers. The dark red of their eyes stands out more on a light blue and white body, therefore making the rest of their facial expressions rather irrelevant. If they're angry, they look evil. If they're happy, they look insane.

Anyway, this particular Frillish was floating towards Mo, the spear carried by most members of the guard, especially the Frillish, present as always.

Mo hid a gulp. Did Guy tell? No, Guy was too stupid to actually check suspicious things in. But had the Frillish seen what he did…

He wore a normal, serious expression, though his eyes upgraded it to "angry." He stopped a foot short of Mo.

"You should really be more careful when you do something," he began, reaching behind his back. Mo presumed that he was reaching for cuffs: he had been caught.

The Frillish instead brought around an Oran Berry. "This fell out of your bag. Please be more careful. If you had lost that and accused it stolen, it would have made my day a lot harder!"

Not knowing how to express himself in this situation, Mo hastily took the berry. "Th-thank you, sir."

The Frillish saluted. "My purpose is to serve, citizen. Resume your day."

With that, the Frillish turned and returned to the Post Office. Mo snickered as he walked away, towards the North Gate. Guy must really be rubbing off on these guards…

…

Night had since fallen on the two refugees of Greentree Forest, who were in the process of setting up a small camp.

Well, if you would refer starting a small fire as "a campsite."

And the fire was less for warmth, and more for just practicing starting said fires. Brute had laid himself down, his long body and neck forming an almost crescent shape around the small pile of dry twigs he had assembled for Amber to practice on.

The Torchic was taking deep, even breaths in and out. "Alright now, Amber. Just focus like you did in the cave, and blow. That's all there is to it."

Almost angrily, the Torchic snapped at Brute. "And what makes you an authority on Fire-Type moves?"

"Oh, my," said Brute, his head moving back in mock offense, "Looks like someone doesn't want my help. M'kay, that's fine with me. Goodnight."

"Wait!" Amber jumped and ran over to Brute's head, which was now on the ground at the end of his stretched out neck. "I'm sorry, it's just…I'm just a little cranky and on-edge."

"Aw!" said Brute, raising his head once more. "Is the little baby cranky? Is it past her bedtime?"

Amber groaned, seeing what she had walked into. "Fine…can we just go back to work?"

"Alright, if you don't want to throw another tantrum." Holding back said tantrum, Amber moved back to her position before the twigs. Brute continued coaching.

"Okay, so how I know about this, thanks for asking by the way, is that the moves you use and the moves I use are practically the same. For me, energy created when my skin absorbs sunlight wells up inside of me, and can then be dispelled. Hence my Energy Ball and Solarbeam attacks.

"For you, I guess…I don't know, some sort of fire or something in your belly? Well, anyway, it wells up, and can be dispelled and stuff…so, do it."

"Do what?" asked Amber.

"You know…pool your energy or something. Use Ember."

If this was the best advice Brute could give, than he should stick with his grumpy Tropius job instead of becoming a teacher in Amber's opinion.

But nonetheless, she did as instructed. She felt the energy within herself; the fires that burned inside.

Brute studied her. He watched her breath, saw her concentrate. But it wasn't doing the trick.

"Come on, kid. You're gonna have to feel something."

"But I don't feel anything. That's kinda the point of pooling my energy," she hissed out of the corner of her beak, trying not to break concentration.

"No, that's not what I meant," said Brute, his voice becoming more suave and convincing. "Get mad. Feel the anger inside of you. Let your hate make you strong." His neck curled like a Seviper, allowing him to speak into her other ear.

"Those Bug-Types, that jerk Sehren, they took everything from you. Are you gonna just stand for that?"

At this point, Amber was shaking like a teapot heated to boil. One more ounce and she would burst…

Brute pushed. "They took your home. They took your _life_. They took your-"

_FWOOOM! _A plume of fire shot out of Amber's mouth, washing over the twigs like water and igniting them, creating a small circle of light around them.

"Good job, kid. If I had hands, I'd be clapping em right now."

Amber nodded, still shaking. Why was she shaking, you ask? Well, Brute never finished his third point of what The Swarm took from her.

She had filled in the blank. And she dreamt of that blank when she plopped herself down, and using Brute's bulk as a pillow, fell asleep.

…

Amber's dream took her to a familiar place. A familiar, horrid place. A place she didn't ever want to visit again.

The place she had recently visited in her mind, when she managed a Ember.

She had no body; no avatar in this dream world. She was just a passive observer, watching the nightmare that had occurred in real life in third person.

What Amber saw was a pristine meadow, with soft green grass, and small flowers decorating the beautiful centerpiece of the forest.

All throughout the field, frolicking and playing were a small flock of baby Torchic, the oldest no more than ten in true years, although Torchic matured faster than most other Pokémon.

Nonetheless, these children played carefree as a Blaziken sat on a white rock and watched them proudly. Their mother. Amber's mother.

This joyful recess lasted for a good three minutes, when all of a sudden from the woods came a tall, cloaked figure. He was flanked by and Armaldo and a Beedrill.

Most of the Torchic stopped playing and looked up, watching the stranger come. One of them, the smallest of the group, hid in a bush, afraid of the newcomers.

The Blaziken stood up suddenly, clenching her fists. "Sehren…" she breathed, shoulders hunched. The Torchics were confused, looking back and forth between their mother and the strangers. They had no idea what these emotions radiating off of their mother was.

One was anger. The other was fear.

The cloaked figure stopped, and so did his bodyguards. As he raised his arms, his sleeves fell back, revealing two large red claws. Said claws grasped the hems of the hood, and pulled it back, revealing a small red head with a three pronged crest on the top. Around his neck was a necklace made of black pearls, fastening a small blue orb around his neck

His orange eyes blazed with malice and blood thirst. "Sarana," he said in a voice as smooth as silk, but as sharp as a sword. "How nice to see you again. It's been so, so long. How have you been?"

"Good, without your stinking up my forest," she hissed, her wrists flaring up. A few of the Torchics squeaked in surprise. "Children, go play," she said, her voice shaky.

They all made their way behind their mother, save for the one who was still hiding under the bush.

Sehren shook his head. "Tch, tch, tch, is that how you Fire-Types welcome guests." He grinned in a way Amber had never seen anyone grin before. It was like he was sharing a private joke with himself: an evil private joke. "Mack was so more inviting."

The name struck Sarana like a Hyper Beam. She was rocked back, and her arms shook as she tried to raise them back up. "Y-you shut up!"

Sehren took a small step forward, causing Sarana to flinch. "You see," said Sehren, taking another step. His bodyguards followed suit. "I asked my old friends to hold something for me until I needed it again." Another step.

"Don't you dare call Mack your friend!" cried Sarana, rage subduing her uncontrollable shaking. "He trusted you, and you stabbed him in the back!"

Ignoring that, Sehren took another step forward and continued. "See, I visited some of my other friends, and as luck would have it, they didn't have my thing either."

Sarana gasped. The Torchic all huddled together. Whatever was enough to frighten their mother was enough to scare them silly. "Y-you didn't!" stammered Saran.

Sehren laughed again, taking yet another step forward. He was a mere two yards away from her. "You're going to have to be more specific." He took one more step, and stopped, holding up a claw to halt his bodyguards.

"So, I'm going to ask a favor of you, sweet Sarana. Could you please check to see if you have my thing? And if not, you could maybe tell me where I could find it? You're the last link I have left, my dear. And I _really_ need this thing."

"I-I don't k-know," said Sarana, her anger fading and fear coming back. The sad truth was that she had in fact known what he was talking about. And the fact that he asked about it meant one thing: she would soon die.

The mask of condescension faded from Sehren's face. They "playing around" phase had ended. He snapped. "Zekka, could you go over there and ask her for me? I don't think she heard. We _are _kind of far away."

Zekka the Beedrill hissed with excitement as he shot forward, Twinneedle outstretched. The Torchic huddled together and whimpered.

But they had nothing to fear. Sarana was prepared to let a lot of things happen, but one of them was not harm befalling her children. With split second timing, she leapt up and put a Blaze Kick into Zekka's gut.

The Beedrill flew all the way back to Sehren's feet, his abdomen literally smoking. He slowly got to his feet, using his needle as a means of balancing himself.

Sehren looked over to the Armaldo, his sure and evil façade now fully replaced with annoyance. He nodded, and the Armaldo roared and rushed forward. Sehren slowly followed behind, and nudged Needles as he passed, the Beedrill shooting forward as well.

"Metal Claw!" roared the Armaldo as it raised a dagger-like claw to strike Sarana. As he brought it down, she moved slightly to the side, and grabbed the claw with her left hand as it chopped downward.

Down near her waist, her right fist glowed. "Sky Uppercut!" she shouted, jamming it into the Armadlo's jaw. He was sent a few feet in the air, landing on his back. Zekka, now up again, zoomed right over him.

He sent a few Twinneedles Sarana's way, each one parried by a fist. And while those two were busy, Sehren was getting closer and closer.

Right as Sarana put the finisher onto Zekka in the form of a Thunderpunch, Sehren had reached her. Without hesitation, Sarana roared and shot a mighty Blaze Kick at Sehren, channeling all the rage from what he had done.

And all that rage amounted to nothing. Without even batting an eye, Sehren caught the Blaze Kick, leaving her standing awkwardly on one leg, shaking and in fearful awe.

Sehren looked down at her leg as if he were disappointed in it. Then, without warning, he pivoted around so that he was behind Sarana, twisting her leg at an angle that legs should not be twisted at.

She roared in pain, and Sehren changed his grip, grabbing her head with his left claw, and putting pressure down on her shoulder with his right, rooting her in place and giving himself a firm grip.

His eyes darted to the left, and he beheld the pathetic group of fowl. He snorted. And to think those whelps evolved into the mighty and universally feared Blaziken. Pitiful.

"You've spent a lot of time training," said Sehren, admiring how she had so quickly taken down Zekka and Chassis. He waited for a second for those words to sink in. "Should've spent more time with your kids."

He twisted his left claw, and the group of Torchics shrieked as Sehren opened both of his claws, and their mother fell onto the ground, limp.

Zekka and Chassis were getting up off of the ground. "So…you didn't get it, eh boss? What now?"

That was a good question. Sehren rested his chin on a claw and thought. He had finally had his revenge, even though he hadn't gotten what he wanted, meaning he'd still have to search.

But better to not leave any loose ends. And Sehren just couldn't pass up a chance to spite his foes one last time. Well, there would be a time yet after that. Once he inevitably found what he was looking for, everything they ever did to keep it hidden from him will have been for nothing.

And they had sacrificed a lot to keep it from him. "What comes next, you ask?" Sehren looked down at the Torchics and grinned. "Target practice. Then I'll treat you to lunch."

And so Amber was forced to watch the destruction of her family once more. Technically, she was watching it twice at one time, as one Torchic was still hidden in the bushes…

…

Amber's eyes shot open as she woke with a start. She almost wanted to vomit, the impact of reliving that day too much.

Deciding that she wouldn't be able to sleep, Amber sat and looked up at the stars.

And nearly jumped out of her feathers as one started to get closer. And closer. And closer.

* * *

**Looks like Amber is a little...ugh, I hate myself for saying this...STARSTRUCK! **

**Society: Booooo!**

**Yeah, yeah, I know. Can't help it...**

**Ahem, okay. If you own a 3DS, buy Fire Emblem: Awakening. It is FANTASTIC! Sadly, it's one of those games which the series had a rough start, but really came back, and not a lot of people found out. Awesome strategy game, great characters, fantastic cutscenes taking graphical advantage of the 3DS. So, TrainerNaps Seal of Approval, right there.**

**Okay, rant over. Bla bla bla, OC submissions almost over (Insert list of random Pokemon suggestions here) Doesn't have to just be an Explorer, please no more big teams, aaaaaand...yeah.**

**So, next time, officially going on to the every Friday schedule, we fill FINALLY meet the main protagonist! Who's it gonna be? Stay tuned to find out! As always, review and comment on the story please, and see ya Friday!**


	7. Chapter 7: Crossroads

**Today's new Ocs are brought to you by A Random Human, who's work I've been following for a while (since the beginning of my FF career I believe) and who has been a loyal supporter of my own also since the beginning. Hers was the first review I ever received! So I'm glad she submitted, I'm glad you all submitted, and enjoy! (This chapter's kinda long, but hey, once a week, right? I can't help it!)**

* * *

Amber shrieked as the comet streaked high above her head, hitting the ground flat on her belly, if only to make the meteor miss by more.

It was a brilliant streak of blue fire across the night sky. Amber slowly picked herself off of the ground, and watched it slowly soar down the road she would be traveling on, until it finally disappeared from sight.

The last she saw of it was a bright flash of light, exploding from where she presumed it landed. Without skipping a beat, she was dashing towards Brute as fast as her little legs could carry her.

"Brute!" she cried, skidding to a stop before the great Grass-Type. She pecked vigorously at his belly. "Brute! Brute, wake up!"

"Uhnnn…" Brute's neck moved slightly, and his eyes opened just a pinch. "Wuh…what is it…"

"A meteor!" cried the Torchic, jumping up and down, trying to get his attention. "It soared right over us and landed down the road!"

He groaned, lifting his neck a few inches off of the ground, before slamming it back down. "Can it wait till morning…?"

'Tch…well, I don't know, but-"

"Let's put it this way. Are more meteors like it raining down around us?"

Amber scanned the sky. "N-no…"

"Is an army of evil aliens bent on our destruction pouring out of the crater?"

She sighed. Amber knew exactly where this was going. "No…"

"And is a pillar of light flashing in the distance, signaling that the meteor has breached our planet's core and it will soon exploded."

"No…"

"Delightful!" He turned his head and flopped back down. "Then it can wait until morning…"

…...

Traveling still alone on the road to his destination, Syamo couldn't help but look up in awe at the blue ball of fire as it cut across the sky like a celestial knife, crashing not a few miles away from him.

He grunted. "No sense in going that far out of my way to check it out…" The Blaziken continued on, oblivious still to the two minors shadowing him. But they too had been deterred from their blazing trail by the astrological wonder.

"Wow," said Arthur, marveling at the falling star. "I've never seen something like that before…"

Takeru patted him on the back, astounded as well. "You know, they say those things bring good luck."

The Ralts looked up at his friend. "We all know I need it…"

…

Night had long since fallen on Mo's journey, but that hindered him not. He kept going, stopping for nothing than to eat a few more Oran Berries to keep him up.

It was a rather quiet night, the sounds of Quarrysville's temperate nightlife having faded away a couple of hours ago.

Except for the meteor that ripped through the sky, and crashed down not a few miles away from him.

Mo jumped. "No way…" he said under his breath, before grinning and filling with excitement. Maybe he didn't have to do anything illegal after all…maybe the sky actually was listening to him.

Mo took off without a forward thought.

…

"Come on, Brute, come on!" The Tropius maintained his sluggish pace as he was shepherded up the highway by an all-too-eager Amber. She would run a few feet, then stop, turn and hop up and down, and then continue running.

Brute sighed. This is why he would never have kids. Well, that wasn't really his choice anymore. Extinction and all that.

"Kid, take it easy, I'm coming," groaned Brute. "Listen, you got me up early for this thing, plus I'm hungry, so would you mind taking it easy?"

Amber shot him a curious glance, temporarily slowing down as to look at him. "Why not eat the fruit that grows on you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Why don't you eat those little wings when _you_ get hungry?"

"Okay, okay, I see your point."

Seeing no more point or reason to talk to her, Brute simply continued on in silence for a few more moments, until a nauseating gurgle erupted from his stomach. He winced and paused, a cramp taking form.

Amber giggled, flipping around and skipping backwards. "You really must be hungry, Brute."

He grimaced, letting out a gaseous burp. He wasn't all too familiar with this process, as the forest provided him with an abundance of food, but he knew what was happening.

Right now, his body was noting a lack of nutrients, and venting gases created by mixing body acids. No biggie, happens to all species. But now, to add nutrients, photosynthesis was really kicking in, temporarily releasing his digestive system of turning up nutrients.

Which usually made him gassy.

"Yeah kid, I am hungry. And unless you can come up with a solution-" he stopped flat, staring at something past Amber. "Hold that thought."

With a mighty flap of his wings, he was off of the ground, and soaring ahead down the path. "W-wait for me!" cried Amber, trying to run at the pace of the flying Pokémon.

She tripped and feel as a result of her hasty start. Picking herself up, she resumed the chase, hoping to catch up with her friend.

And hey, the possibility of there being a little more food was sweet too.

…...

Further up the path, a twosome traveled slowly along towards Quarrysville, heads hung in shame. The group consisted of a Vanillite and a Growlithe, both sporting light blue, almost white, bands.

The Vanillite wore his around his ice-cone, which was essentially his body. The Growlithe wore her around her neck, but donned another piece of cloth on her body as well.

On her left foreleg was a bandage, tightly wrapped to conceal what was beneath. She walked with a very slight limp.

The Vanillite sighed. "Why do we even keep trying…?"

Shaking her head, the Growlithe did her best to keep it up at all. "Well, it's all we can do."

"No, I mean why do we keep trying to tackle this dungeon specifically?" asked the Vanillite, turning so that he could look at her as the made their way. Since he could float, he didn't need to focus ahead.

"I dunno," said the Growlithe, shrugging her shoulder the best a quadruped could. "Well, once anyone else finds out about this dungeon, we probably won't be able to get the treasure for ourselves. Better to try while we can."

He nodded. It was true that they had a secret, and it was also true that it couldn't stay a secret forever. They had to take advantage of it as much as they could, until they either succeeded, or it was found out.

Sighing, the Growlithe continued her explanation. "I just think that-"

She froze as a large shadow passed over them. As a Fire-Type, detecting changes in the temperature was like a sixth-sense for her. The shadow had ever so slightly decreased the temperate for ever so little a time while blocking the sun.

The Vanillite stopped when she did, not noticing the change that much, as he was an Ice-Type. "What is it?"

She sniffed the air for a moment. "I don't know. I just had a bad feeling about-"

Before she could finish her sentence, something enormous slammed down in front of them, kicking up a cloud of dist. It sprayed into her eyes, blurring her vision.

As she tried to clear her vision, something thick and bigger than her entire body slammed into her, clubbing her to the side a considerable anount.

"Amy!" cried the Vanillite, backing up so that he could see his attacker. The thing was huge, and he was small; therefore, his proximity made it hard for him to see it.

It was a monster, the likes of which he had never seen before. It had a great long neck, topped with a visor like crest. The shadow behind the neck, still covered by the unsettled dust revealed the outline of several wing-looking apparatuses.

The monster snarled, and leaned in closer, taking a few steps forward. "Jake!" cried Amy, back up on her feet. There was no way in the Nether she was gonna let him hurt Jake!

Jake backed up slowly, trembling as the creature slowly advanced. "W-who are you!?"

It's neck moved back a bit, perhaps in surprise. "It talks?" it said in a slightly deep voice. "I really must be going crazy…I thought I was losin' it a bit when I saw an ice-cream cone on the highway, but now it _talks!? _I must be really hungry…"

Jake was taken back a bit by this. He gulped. "W-what do you want!?"

"Isn't it obvious? _I want to eat you. _Now get in my mouth!"

Growing desperate, Jake now resorted to wordsmithing. "Y-you know, you could be right. I might not even exit!"

"Guess there's only one way to find out," growled the best. And with that, his neck snapped forward like a serpent Pokémon snatching up its prey.

Amy, who had been charging forth, skidded suddenly to a stop. As quickly as it came, that thing had devoured her best friend, essentially her brother. He was gone…just like that…gone…

Her eyes narrowed, her back hunched, and an unconscious growled flowed out of her mouth. There was but one thing on her mind now: vengeance! Jake's death will not be in vain.

"DIE!" she cried, lifting her head in a howling motion, and then whipping it down, an Ember attack shooting out.

It beat harmlessly against the monster's leathery skin. He turned a few degrees to his right, facing Amy directly. "Why I oughtta," he gurgled, as Amy noticed a bluge in the middle of his throat.

He had yet to swallow Jake! The Vanillite was putting up a fight. The monster stretched out its neck, and fought the resistance, trying to swallow him.

All of a sudden, his eyes popped out of his head. His mouth shot open just as and Ice Beam exploded from his mouth, shooting into the air.

Bringing back his head so that it formed an "S," the monster then snapped its forward, hocking Jake back onto he ground, covered in saliva.

"Ugh," Jake slowly picked himself up, saliva slowly flowing off of him. "Ewww! It smelled like sweat and dirt in there!"

The monster coughed and hacked, trying to rid his throat of the itching sensation left by his unwilling meal. "Hey, I like to eat roots, okay?"

"Well then, go find yourself a root!" snarled Amy, landing in front of Jake protectively with a single resolute bound. The monster shook himself off.

"Well, sadly, if you'll look around, there are no trees!" he said sarcastically, looking side to side, and then donning an expression of false surprise. "So, I guess I'm gonna have to eat Jakey here." The Vanillite gulped. "No offense, Amy, but I don't eat meat. That's just how I roll."

Amy's eye twitched. "Y-you…you've got a lot of nerve, buddy!"

"Yeah, newsflash: you do too. Why are you here again?"

That was the last snarl. She yipped, taking a "ready to pounce" stance. "Enough talk!"

The monster too hunkered down. "Agreed. I'm kinda hungry."

The action resumed, but not for long. Jake flinched, making an easy target for the monster's long neck, which went right for him, mouth agape. Fangs bared, Amy charged the beast, who raised his right foreleg for a Stomp attack-

-just as a panting Torchic emerged up the hill. "Stop!" she shrieked, running a few more feet closer before stopping and panting again.

That left the three in an awkward pose. They had all froze when Amber had shrieked. Amy had stopped a few inches short of Brute, teeth ready to sink into his flesh. Brute's foot hovered over her, hallway down its stomping motion.

Brute's mouth hung open, right over Jake. While they were all motionless, their eyes followed Amber.

"Aht?" asked Brute, his mouth still wide open over Jake.

"Don't eat him!" she shrieked, dashing over to the poor Vanillite. She nudged him out of the path of Brute's may, starting up defiantly at him.

"'Ay 'ot?" he asked, mouth still open. He straightened up, and licked his dry lips. "Why not?"

"Tch, whaddya mean 'why not!?' He's a Pokémon!"

Brute snorted. "Yeah, sure, and I'm Arceus. Bow down to me!" He struck a majestic pose. Amy snorted as well, backing up.

"Yeah, if you're Arceus, then I'm Giratina. Fear me, heathens!" She bared her fangs, then turned and trotted over to Amber. While she technically hadn't even met the Torchic yet, she seemed like a sensible young Pokémon.

"You know this guy?" asked Amy, nodding her head in the direction of Brute.

"Yup," said Amber, "That's Brute. He's a really nice guy once you get to know him. He can just be a little cranky when he's hungry. And when he's tired. And, well, when he's full and awake, for that matter…" Jake and Amy snickered, earning them a glare from Brute. Jake flinched; Amy glared back.

She turned back around when Amber began talking to her. "Would you happen to be headed for Quarrysville?"

"Why yes we are!" answered Amy perkily. "We just got back from a mission."

"A failed mission…" said a bummed-out Jake, looking at the ground.

"-and our Exploration Team is based there."

Amber's eyes sparkled brighter than the falling star she had beheld a few hours ago. _Real explorers!? _Amber was in the presence of _REAL FREAKING EXPLORERS!?_

An audible click was almost heard as Amber entered fangirl mode. Jake and Amy were battered on all sides with questions from the young forest girl.

"That's soooo cool! What's your team's rank? How long have you been a team? How many missions have you gone on? Did you find any treasure? Have you ever seen a Legendary Pokémon? Have you ever _fought _a Legendary Pokémon? Are The Gates real?-"

The questions continued like this. Amy shot Jake a sheepish grin. They both had always fantasized about being famous…maybe they should reconsider…

However, the reality of the situation was that the little girl pestered the rookie Explorers with questions not because of rank, but because of overall affiliation.

All of her life, Amber had dreamed of leaving Greentree Forest and becoming an Explorer. True enough she left, but definitely not in the way she wanted to. Nevertheless, part two of her dream was coming true: meeting real Explorers.

Sweatdropping, Amy put a steady paw on Amber's shoulder, stopping the joyous bouncing, but causing Amber to beam up at Amber with those hopeful spotlights she called eyes.

"L-listen, sweetie, um…we aren't the most qualified if you want to talk about becoming an Explorer…" said Amy humbly, trying to downplay their situation without disappointing Amber.

"Really?" chirped Amber, her spirit deteriorated zero percent, "What rank are you?"

Once again Amy didn't want to let the little girl down. But this wasn't about her. "We're…uh…we're Normal Rank…"

The two looked down a bit ashamed and expecting the little girl to bum out and be a little disappointed. They were surprised when they heard a chirp of, "Awesome!"

Jake looked up suddenly. Not many exactly commended them on their not moving up at all in the ranks. "R-really?"

"Yeah! You're an Exploration Team, aren't you? Exploring is all about helping people and having fun and making the world a better place. So Rank doesn't matter. It's just a title."

Jake and Amy were at a loss for words. This little kid…the one who had been pestering them moments ago on every little detail…the one who had been on the road for no more than three days…had just given them a heartfelt lecture on the true meaning of an Exploration Team.

The two teammates looked at each other. Looks of true determination replaced the masks of such they wore previously. Their resolves now refilled, they were ready to return to Quarrysville, gear up to take on that dungeon again, and come back with the treasure!

"She's right!" said Jake, pumping his stubby little arms in the air. "We're Team Dazzle! We don't just give up!"

"Yeah!" replied Amy, letting loose a brief howl. "Now come on!" she pointed with her nose dog-style down the road. "We've got some preparation to do!"

_It's great to see them happy, _thought Amber as the two teammates laughed and fooled around. _I mean, without fun…what's Exploring all about?_

Now it was time to work up the courage to ask what she wanted to ask. Her body shook with the fear of being let down. But after what _she _just initiated, she couldn't back down.

"H-hey guys," mumbled Amber. Team Dazzle stopped what they were doing and looked at Amber. "I-I'm going to Quarrysville too. Wanna walk with me?"

She cursed herself. She botched it up! She hadn't even asked!

"Sure!" said Jake, bringing her out of the funk, "If your, uh…friend is going too, I guess we can…" she shot Jake a nervous look. He still reeked of Tropius esophagus. "…go with him too…"

Nodding eagerly, Amber ran ahead, still facing Team Dazzle. "Sure! Brute and I would love-" She turned down the path, and saw that Brute was ambling along further down the path.

"Hey!" she cried, taking off as fast as her little legs would allow, "Wait for me!"

He heard her cry and sighed, lowering his head a bit. _Great. I thought they'd talk forever. I really did…_

"Brute, Brute, guess what!?" she piped, catching up to him and bouncing up and down with excitement, having to run further ahead after each few bounces to keep from falling behind.

"What, kid?" he snapped, not paying attention to her. "Did you see another Butterfree? Because I thought you'd accept the fact that they're real after like the third one…"

"No, no, something else! Team Dazzle is coming with us the rest of the way!"

Brute peeked around his body. Sure enough, the Growlithe and Vanillite were walking up steadily behind him. He turned back around and puffed.

"Oh look, Lunch and his pet dog. Joy."

Amy snarled. "I'm not his pet!" she yipped flippantly.

"Yeah!" cried Jake, trying to look as intimidating as possible. Though for a talking ice cream cone with natural dimples, that was a difficult task. "We don't need to take that from a big, fa-"

Brute's head snapped back around, his eyes narrowing. The look he shot in Jakes direction screamed, "_You really wanna finish that sentence?_" as he licked his lips.

Jake was quiet for the next few minutes.

"Phew," said Amy, bowing her head a little further down the road. "I sure am tired. We've been walking for a few miles now." She nudged Amy, and then nodded in the direction of Brute. "It sure would be nice if a certain someone could-"

"No," said Brute, not even having to look at them to know what they meant.

"Aw, but why not?" protested Amy, running ahead of Brute and plopping down on the path.

The Tropius scowled and rolled his eyes. "Because I ain't a taxi!"

A few sniffles came from the nose of Amy. Her eyes shimmered like saucers full of liquid. Her snout twitched. If ever there was a move that was parallel to Scary Face, it would be this, and it would be called Puppy-Dog Face.

"I will Stomp you," said Brute plainly. Amy growled and got up, walking ahead a bit.

Deciding to start a little small talk, Jake slid over to Amber. "That was a pretty interesting philosophy you gave us back there," he commented, making Amber smile with pride. "Did you come up with that yourself?"

Amber shook her head. "No…" her beak trembled as she fought back tears, "My, uh…my mother taught it to me. She taught me a lot of thing. Before, you know…she passed…"

An instinctive arm went around Amber's shoulder (it was a good thing both were small). "We understand," said Jake softly, looking further down the path at Amy. It was best she didn't hear.

"We lost our mothers too. When we were really young. We were all alone until we found each other." He held up his Exploration Badge. "Together ever since."

"I guess we have a little in common," said Jake, "We all lost our moms-"

"Yup," interrupted Brute. "Darn shame. Every last one of us. Small world. Hey, can we take a little quiet break?"

"I think the big guy just doesn't wanna talk about his mommy!" said Amy, eliciting a snicker.

Now this weighed heavily on Amber's young mind. Team Dazzle, from what she now understood, was a duo of kindhearted Pokémon just trying to make their way. They had lost their mothers at a young age, but could now for the most part get over it.

And from what Amber understood, Brute lost his mother in a manner far worse than any of them. She assumed this outwardly sarcastic and sometimes rude nature of his was to mask something…softer. More delicate.

Good intentions on her agenda, Amber trotted to Brute's side. Annoyed, he exhaled. _Here we go again…_

"Brute…I was just wondering…if you wanted…to talk," said Amber through ragged breaths, as the group was now walking up a hill, and Amber had to speak in moderation as she ran up the inclined plain.

"Okay kid," said Brute with a chuckle, "You've had some pretty good ones, but this takes the cake!"

The confused Torchic #!*% her head to the side. "Huh?"

Up ahead, Amy growled and flipped around. "She just wants to talk to you! You could take it easy on the kid!"

Brute rolled his eyes and complied, due to the fact that if he Stomped Amy flat, he'd probably have to clean her up so no one stepped in her. "Fine kid, whaddya got?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to talk about your moth-"

"Whoa!" Brute exclaimed, yet still continuing on as he usually did. "Alright kid, I think it's time to set some ground rule of traveling with Brute. Okay, so concerning my family, past, or personal life. There is no way in hel-lo!"

His voice rang with surprise as they reached the top of the hill. All four of them stopped and marveled at what was before them.

"D-do you think this is where that meteor crashed?" stuttered Jake to Amber.

"Yup," she said back, eyes glued to the site.

On the ground before them was a gigantic ring seared into the ground. In fact, smoke still rose up from it. The ring's pattern was an intricate lacing, and within those laces were arcane looking symbols none of them had ever seen before.

Shaking his head, Brute took a cautious step around the circumference of the circle. "Uh-uh, kid. The thing about stuff falling from the sky: it usually leaves a crater of some sort. It doesn't draw in the dirt _with fire_!"

The entire shape was probably about thirty feet in diameter. Going from the outside of the ring in, about five feet from there, was another yet smaller circle, ancient symbols and all. And then a shorter distance within that one, another.

And within that one was certainly something different.

It was a shell.

Amber leaned forward, staring at the shell. She took a step forward.

"Kid, wait!" cried Brute, "You don't know what-"

One of her talons touched the actual pattern itself. Jake flinched, anticipating some sort of divine wrath to come raining down on the poor Torchic.

But nothing happened. She began walking at a normal pace towards the center.

Once she reached it, she examined the shell a bit more extensively. It was brown on the top, and laced with caresses diving it into square shapes. One the bottom, the same, except it was yellow. There were six holes: three on each end. The largest was the centermost at the top.

After further scrutiny from Amber, the shell received a Peck. Brute rolled his eyes and began to walk forward as well. "Kid, is that what you do to _every _new thing you find?"

She ignored that remark. Not out of rudeness, but out of the fact that she was so wrapped up in her examination, she and everyone around her failed to notice the trio of Pokémon coming up behind them.

The one in front, a Galvantula, cleared his throat. Everyone spun around to face the full trio. Along with the Galvantula, there was a Crustle and a Ditto.

The Galvantula clacked his mandibles together. "Well well, what do we have here? Some precious star metals, I hope?"

He was no cop, but Brute knew trouble when he saw it. And these three reeked of it. On a good day, he could take them all on with ease. But he still had that Beedrill wound, which he was pretty sure was getting infected, and his backup wasn't exactly Team Aegis.

"Move along, friend," said Brute, nodding his head to indicate the path behind him. "We don't want any trouble. There's no star metals here."

The Galvantula "tisk tisk tisk"d. "Well, unfortunately for you, we're looking for both."

The Crustle chuckled. "Yeah, you tell em, Casper!"

He was rewarded with a smack upside the head. "Shut up, Rim!"

"Sorry…"

Just then, a smaller yellow shape appeared on Casper's back. It was a Joltik, and a very young one at that. Her eyes sparkled with joy. "Oh boy, and actual Tropius!"

Brute snickered and raised an eyebrow. "You sure you're not looking for three things?" Spreading his legs and raising his head high on top of his lengthy neck, Brute struck his most intimidating pose. Even Amy had to admit she'd be a little reluctant to face that.

"Because if you are," continued Brute, putting on the final touches by fanning his wings, "I'd be happy to oblige."

Rim and the Ditto shuffled back nervously, and flinched when their leader slammed his front leg into the ground. "Butch!" he said, glaring at the Ditto. "Get Peony outta here!" The Joltik hopped off of his leg and scurried behind Butch, the Ditto.

"Now, you can make this nice and easy," said Casper, walking slowly forward, flanked by Rim and Butch, who had morphed into a Tropius. "Hand over the start metals, and all of your money-"

Jake gasped. "Y-you can't do that! That wasn't the deal! Th-that's not fair!"

"Aw," Casper said mockingly, tilting his head to the side and batting his many eyes. "Well my friend, I'm afraid life isn't fair. And I can't just let you go without looting you. It's bad for business."

"You know what else is bad for business?" growled Brute, his patience growing dangerously low. "A broken neck!"

He gave a display of his Stomp attack, which put a rather sizeable divot into the ground, and sent large chips of rock into the air.

Casper hissed. His patience too was wearing thin. This Tropius thought he was all that! He thought just because he was big, he was in charge. That he could push around a respectable gang like Team Nasty. Pokémon like him made Casper sick.

"Ya really think you could take all of us on, buddy?" Casper motioned to Butch and Rim flanking him. "With that nasty lookin' scratch on your hip, I'd say we could take you down without much of a hassle."

That earned a snort from Brute. "Well, my main strategy would be to squash you first. See, where I come from, you don't mouth off to someone bigger than you and go to sleep that night with all of your eyes closed. So I'd very much like you to die first."

"As for your goons, I think I should be able to flip Box or whatever you said his name was on his back. Then, maybe if they're up to it, Team Twinkle-"

"DAZZLE!" Amy and Jake cried in unison, temporarily forgetting the greater issue at hand.

"-yeah, whatever. They could probably take that jerk when he's down." He shot an allusive grin at Rim, and licked his lips. "I hear your people go _great _with butter, by the way." Rim gulped.

"As for Copycat-"

"I'll be handling him, thank you very much. In fact, I've got them all covered." All present parties turned to the road behind Brute and his traveling companions. Up the hill came a Snivy, carrying himself proudly with his assertive gait.

"And you are-?" said Brute, his head lolling to the side.

Quite agile, the Snivy leapt up onto Brute's back, and from there onto his head. He then hopped down in front of Brute. He quickly glanced up at him and gave a thumbs up, to which Brute responded with a growl.

"They'll get plenty of time to get to know me on the way back to town," said the Snivy, stretching and making a big show of it. "Now, you wanna tie _yourselves_ up, or-"

Casper slammed his left foreleg into the ground, boiling mad. "Alright, I've had enough of this! Electoweb!" He spat a glob of sticky silk at the Snivy, which took the form of a spider's net, sparkling with electricity.

"Leaf Blade!" cried the Snivy, leaping into the air. He did a front flip, and when his tail came back around, it had grown, and was glowing green. It cut through the web like wet tissue paper. He landed before Casper, and swung his sword of energy, barely missing as Caper backed up.

Brute shot a grin to Amber. "I like this guy." He then charged headfirst into battle.

He kept his promise, as he blew right by Butch and Rim, and went straight for Casper. Mo's head shot back and Casper's head shot up to the sound of the oncoming behemoth of a Pokémon.

Mo leapt to the side as Brute stopped, skidding a few inches and raising a foot. "Stomp!" he cried, narrowly missing Casper as he shot back.

"Electroweb!" he called again, shooting another static glob of silk at Brute. It snared Brute's neck, stopping another charge. Brute cursed as his neck thrashed and he tried to get free.

He could feel patches of skin going numb as he resisted the shocks, but still took damage. One thrash meant to weaken a strand resulted in it snapping, and the net falling off of Brute completely.

Looking down in surprise Brute noticed that one of the stands had been seared off with fire. Amber was standing in a fighting position as he turned to look at her and gave her a grin. Roaring, he charged forward again, this time with Amber on his tail.

The two fought like clockwork. Still charging, Brute ducked his neck down low and Amber hopped on. He then whipped his head up, sending Amber up into the air.

Butch, still in Tropius form, tracked Amber in her upward arc and paid no attention to Brute, who slammed into him with a Body Slam.

His eyes bugged out of his head and the wind was knocked out of his long neck. The Ditto was very unused to this form, and so he had no idea how to maximize its potential.

Also neglected was his weaknesses, and the Torchic whom he had made an effort to keep an eye on. From her superior elevation she launched a powerful Ember attack, which battered Butch and forced him to shrink down into his normal formal, bruised and burned.

"Oof!" squeaked Amber as she landed on the ground. She shrieked as she turned and almost received a Leaf Blade in the face. Mo skidded to a stop, the Leaf Blade halting just short of Amber's cheek.

"Watch it!" cried the disgruntled Snivy. Amber had landed right in his path, and his attack on Casper had been ruined.

Speaking of Casper, said Galvantula took advantage of the self-proclaimed vigilante and gave him a Sucker Punch into the gut, sending him several yards back.

One hand automatically made its way to Mo's wound as he shakily pulled himself up. The attack had done more damage than he had anticipated. "Y-you…wretched…scoundrel…" he choked, stumbling to the side.

Casper scowled. "Pal, I have no idea what you just said, but I don't think I-"

_TWAP! _Two vines whipped out of the crest around Mo's shoulders, restraining both of Casper's forelegs. The gangster struggled against the Vine Whip, but found that the Snivy had a stronger grip than he had anticipated.

"Heh," said Mo, grinning and keeping a firm hold despite Casper's struggle. "Typical outlaw. Always running you mouth."

"Speaking of running your mouth!" shouted Casper, opening his wide and preparing to launch another Electroweb. But at the last second he lowered his maw, and actually thought this one through.

If he launched another web, he'd just be rooting Mo in place. And if he did that, Mo would have no reason not to just continue his stranglehold. Casper's strategy would do no good.

Grinning, he decided to go with his regular one. Overpowering the opponent.

Casper performed a sudden backflip. He landed exactly how he had started, especially if you took into account the fact that the vines were still wrapped around his legs. But the grip had grown slack, and with luck Mo would land in a place making him vulnerable.

When Mo landed, someone was made vulnerable. But it was not him. Mo landed right on his back.

Casper shivered when he felt Mo's vine-like feet touch his furry back. "H-hey! Get off!"

"Hm," said Mo, fake-contemplating the deal. "Nah. I really like the _view_!" When he said "view," Mo slashed at Casper's back with a Leaf Blade. Team Nasty's leader hissed in pain, and tried to throw him off.

But Mo had that under control. He still had the vines wrapped around Casper's legs, and was now yanking on them like reins, keeping the gangster from knocking him off. He kept slicing at Casper's back with Leaf Blades.

All attempts to get the Snivy off were futile, but Casper had one more ace in the hole. Anticipating this, Casper covered his ears.

A brain numbing Screech echoed through the air. Mo's vines went slack as he stumbled backwards, hands covering his ears. Casper jerked to the side suddenly, knocking Mo into the dirt.

With superb agility he leapt back, Peony scuttling up onto his leg having ceased her Screech. "I don't like it when you fight…" she whispered.

"I know," said Casper, looking around at the battlefield. Mo was once again struggling to get up. Brute and Amber were shaking their heads and stumbling back and forth, Brute having to make an honest effort not to step on Amber. "Which is why we're leaving."

Butch too looked disgruntled as well, shaking like jelly as the sound waves reverberated. A whistle from Casper got his attention. "Come on, Butch, we're outta here!"

"Right!" he squirmed over to his leader. That just left Rim.

Over at the other end of the battlefield, Jake and Amy were just recovering from the Screech. Jake had not been that effected, just a little shaken. Amy on the other hand suffered a lot due to her sensitive ears.

Even now she sat on the ground, paws on top of her head, shaking. Jake drifted over to her. "Amy, wake up, wake u-ah!"

Looking up he saw Rim, an angry smile on his face, lunging at them.

Jake's battle strategy of waiting till the last moment would probably do him some justice here, but he knew for a fact that even his most powerful Ice Beam would not be able to stop Rim from crushing him.

He readied it anyway, puffing out his cheeks.

Rim's shadow closed above him, even blotting out the sun briefly. At the last second, Jake prepared to launch. "Ice Be-"

_BWOOOSH! _Rim was struck right in the face by a jet of water, knocking him back. He landed on the ground with a loud thud, shaking the water off of his dumbfounded face.

Team Dazzle whipped around. Standing up now in the middle of the circles was the owner of the shell. Two blue arms and a round blue head had popped out of his head, and two blue legs and a curly tail had popped out of his rear.

Amy now recognized it: a Squirtle.

* * *

**Yeah, all of you who know a little about me, you saw the Squirtle MC thing coming (plus a Squirtle being the cover art for the book...) But yeah, I loves me some Squirtle, and couldn't help it.**

**So, stay tuned for next week, where we meet this stranger Squirtle who fell from the sky, as well as finding out why Amber is making her way to Quarrysville, and a little more about the mysterious and sinister Sehren as he plans his next move...**

**More OCs on the way: don't worry! I've got plans for them all, I just don't know exactly when I'll implement them. I know where, just not when. **

**Sadly, the first wave of OC submissions are coming to a close. Next week's chapter is the deadline, so get em in before that if you have any more. Please use good judgement and don't bombard me with your own OCs. I will still accept them after the deadline, but I'm gonna have to stick with my own rules and not include any in Part One after the deadline. They will go on the list for Part 2, but unlike the others I couldn't use now, they may not get priority. Sorry, but that's just the way it is.**

**So, to recap: Next Friday=de-facto end of OC submission for Part One. That's two days before one of my favorite TV shows returns for a new season, Falling Skies.**

**I could rant on and on about how great it is, but this is already really long so I'll spare you. Basically, it's Walking Dead with aliens (better in my opinion, as it actually has a story). I've come to the conclusion that the producers are evil, as there is only one season per year, and they always end on a monumental cliffhanger. So, give it a chance, you won't regret it. TrainerNaps Seal of Approval, right there.**

**As always, comment on the story in the reviews, or just say whatever, and I'll see ya next week!**


	8. Chapter 8: Inheritance

**No new OCs today, guys. Next week though, I have some planned. For now, enjoy!**

* * *

The Squirtle looked to be in pain. One of his eyes was half shut, and he winced in pain. The Tiny Turtle Pokémon stumbled to the right.

Afraid of the strange strength possessed by the Squirtle, Rim turned tail and ran. He scuttled by a still stunned Brute and Amber, who tried to stop him but managed no more than a slow step forward and a grimace in pain.

"Letsgoletsgoletsgo!" cried Rim as he barreled back to his comrades. Mo had finally picked himself up at this moment.

"You aren't going anywhere!" he cried, activating his Leaf Blade and preparing to attack again.

But Casper had already employed his cover strategy. Taking in a deep breath, he felt the fibers formed within him well up in his throat. With a hock that would make even the most experience distance spitter jealous, he rapidly launched a volley of Electrowebs at his opponents.

Just as he was poised to leave the ground, Mo was struck with another Electroweb, plastering him back to the ground.

Brute was the next to be struck, the kick from the adhesive bending his neck back, and preventing it from moving.

Amber too was trapped by an Electroweb, her small frame allowing for the entire attack to cover her. Jake and Amy were so close together that one attack secured them both.

"Ugh!" growled Amy as she struggled against her bonds. "I like being close to you, Jake, but not this close!"

Casper backed up very slowly, until Rim had finally made it behind him. Then he took off full kilter, his four powerful legs propelling him forward.

Butch had hopped onto his back; he could have transformed into something fast to escape more efficiently, but the members of Team Nasty weren't famous for thinking fast. It didn't slow Casper down by that much, though.

Their small and plentiful legs allowed the Bug-Types to cover a large amount of distance with all the work they had put into them. So once they were hidden inside of a small dell, Casper finally allowed Rim a rest (though he himself needed one as well).

The Crustle crawled out of his shell and flopped on his back. For such a small Pokémon carrying a token that big that fast for that amount of time was a toll and a half.

"Well boss…" he panted, his tiny chest heaving up and down, "Looks like…looks like that was a bust…"

"No," said Casper, shaking his head, "We'll make a pretty profit today. That's for sure."

Butch hopped up from his perch on Casper's back to his head, prompting a growl from the Galvantula. "How so, boss?"

He reached out his leg so that Butch and Peony could climb down. "Did you see that Torchic?"

"Yeah," said Butch and Rim at the same time. Peony skittered in front of her brother so that her small form was not missed when she spoke.

"Big brother, we're not gonna hurt her, are we?" she chirped innocently.

"No, no, of course not," crooned Casper. "She's lost, and we're gonna help her get home."

Peony seemed excited at the prospect of helping another lost soul. "Really?" she chirped, intrigued.

"Yes," said Casper diabolically, all of his eyes narrowing. "In fact, there's a nice man, a Bug-Type like us, who is paying a lot of money for the whereabouts of any Torchic…"

…

With one final set of curse words and a mighty heave, Brute sent the Electroweb that had bound him off into the wind. He sure hoped it didn't hit anyone…on second thought, he didn't really care.

At his feet, Amber was still struggling with hers, biting and scratching is with her talons. She looked to be on the verge of tears.

Brute rolled his eyes, and grabbed onto it with his mouth. When he ripped it from the ground, it felt heavier than he expected. Opening his eyes he saw that the entire thing had come with him, Amber still trapped inside like a net.

He swung it around, back and forth, until it felt lighter. He looked down and saw that she had fallen out and plopped right down onto the ground. Her head was spinning.

"C'mon kid, quit messin' around. We're almost there," he said grumpily as her turned and began to head back down the path to Quarrysville.

Truly though, this whole grand excursion hadn't exactly made his day. Not only did his Beedrill sting get worse, but he had a whole new host of injuries. And not to mention the muscle cramp he had gotten in his neck from the Electroweb.

Team Dazzle wasn't having much luck with their bonds. When Brute approached, they stopped struggling to thank him for the help they expected, but were left high and dry as he simply ignored them.

Amy scoffed. "Well, you certainly are an upstanding citizen."

"If I recall correctly, you bit my leg," he called back.

"You ate my friend!" she retorted agitatedly, her face scrunching up in anger. This guy was unbelievable!

"I threw him back up. Count your blessings, Fido."

That was the last straw. Amy burst out into hysterics, barking and snapping her jaw. Jake began to stress out at his companion's sudden outburst.

"A-Amy! Calm down!" he cried desperately, "We're still tied togeth-whoa!"

Amy's fits of barking and snapping had tottered Jake's cone, on which was all the stood. The twosome tipped over, flat on Amy's face. And as he mouth was open, she received a healthy serving of dirt.

In a great example of the universe's unfairness, this happened to be the one example of Brute deciding to care enough and turn back to face whom he was conversing with.

He burst out laughing as he returned to his trek. "Man," he said still brimming with laughter, "If you guys are funny, I simply cannot _wait _to meet the rest of this town!"

Amber stood at the edge of the hill and squeaked, "But what about him?"

Brute's laughter stopped dead at the sound of concern in the little girl's voice. "Who, the Snivy?"

"No, the one in the middle of the crater," she said softly, "The, um…"

"Squirtle," said Mo gruffly, the force of the Electroweb still pressing down on him. "And I thank you for your concern.

"Hey, if you wanna carry him, power to you kid," said Brute. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Quarrysville to get to."

"I-I can't!" she shouted back as Brute got father and farther away. "Please, help! I just need one more favor!"

From the start he hadn't exactly been perfectly poised to do her any. But the way she was pleading…

-did not affect his decision. "Kid, I will repeat this one last time! I…am…not…a…TAXI!" He shook himself off and continued on, head hunched. "Good day!"

Not two seconds after that, he stumbled. His back left leg completely failed and went numb. Brute struggled to keep himself up.

"Brute!" cried Amber, running as fast as her little legs could carry her over to her escourt. "Brute, are you okay?"

_I do not believe this, _he thought, although the process of thinking was constantly interrupted by the pain, _I just told her "no" and she's STILL coming back!? This kid is like a bad rash…_

"Looks like you're poisoned," said Mo, who had finally freed himself from his prison and was looking down the hill at the two Pokémon collapsed at its bottom.

"Wow, so observant," said Brute obscenely, his expression fatigued by the pain, "Discolored blood coming from my numb leg; where in the world did you get your degree?"

The Snivy snorted, lifting his nose in the air in that fashion that was all too associated with the species. "My extensive knowledge of ailments and their cures is not the purpose of this exchange. You need medical help, and I sadly can't provide it. That wound looks quite old though. Had you eaten a Pecha Berry or two when it was fresh, then you probably wouldn't be in this mess right now."

Amber stuck her tongue out at Brute. "If I could, kid, I would Stomp you right now."

Adding insult to injury (one way or another) Mo continued his strolls, hopping up onto Brute's back, strolling down his neck, and then hopping off in front of his face to stare into his angry eyes.

"Like I said, you need a doctor. Fortunately, the Quarrysville Clinic isn't far from the main gates. We get so many refugees and wounded Explorers stumbling in that it only made sense to put it there."

He swiveled so that he faced the main gate, which was now visible, hands folded casually behind his back. "I'll be taking the Squirtle there, so I might as well show you the way."

"Uh-uh, Slick," said Brute, struggling to stand up. He faltered, but managed to heave his large body mass off of the ground. "I suspect I'll be carrying 'your' cargo into town?"

He shrugged. "Well, you _are_ the only one who could carry it, so-"

Brute began to limp (is it considered limping if you have three good legs?) back up the hill. "Yeah, no. If I'm bein' the one who has to carry that thing back, I decided what we do with it. Capiche?"

"Why not let him decide?" asked Amber. It wasn't exactly grown up talk, as the Snivy looked to be about her age, but it was a mature discussion between two mature men nonetheless, and she wanted to understand.

"Well, uh, the kid has a point," said Brute, scratching the back of his head with one of his wings. "Which…was exactly the point I was gonna make! Yeah!" He scooped the Squirtle's shell up with his wing and let it slide onto his back. "Now, let's be on our merry way."

And with that, the threesome was finally ready to set out for Quarrysville once and for all…

…but not before they heard a call from behind them.

"Um, hello?" cried Jake, not being able to look to the side because of his being still tied to Amy and having been tipped over, "You guys are coming back to help, right? Guys…?"

…

"Ow, ow, ow, ow," Brute growled as the owner and chief operator of the Quarrysville Clinic, Doctor Bliss, worked on his wound.

Brute had been laid onto a great stone slab, kept especially for Pokémon his size. It was a wonder how such a wide variety of medical supplies was kept in constant surplus for the needs of tons of Pokémon coming in all shapes and sizes.

But as was to be expected with any establishment, they were lacking in a few things. One of those things was a medicine that could numb the pain for a Grass-Type of Brute's size.

There were a lot of chemicals that didn't work well for Grass-Types, due to the fact that they were, well, chemicals.

"Okay, Mr. Brute," said Doctor Bliss in her motherly yet forceful tone. "I'm going to pull out another fragment on three, okay?"

"Don't I get a say in this?" asked Brute. The Blissey giggled.

"Nope. Three." She yanked with her metal tweezers, and Brute howled in pain. The outburst could be heard from all across town.

There was a _CLINK _as Doctor Bliss dropped the last piece of the Poison Sting needle into a tray. "Well, that is the last piece Mr. Brute," she said in her light melodic voice. Though it could become powerful and commanding at the drop of a hat. Doctor Bliss didn't mess around.

"You know, you're a very lucky Pokémon," she said as she dropped her tweezers into a beaker of disinfectant, "Most Poison Sting attacks fragment into many pieces when they impact. Yours only split into three."

"I feel so lucky," he grumbled sarcastically, earning him a smack on the head from Doctor Bliss's latex glove, which she had just removed to deposit in the trash. "Easy, doc! You're gonna cause another bruise!"

"Which I can easily treat," she pleasantly retorted, rummaging through a cabinet behind Brute. "Now, I'm going to finish treating that infection that you were too foolish to treat yourself, dress your wound, and you'll be free to go."

Brute sighed. He knew Doctor Bliss would make the easiest part of the operation irritating still. "I'd better get a lollipop after this," he griped.

…

Amber sat in the waiting area of the Clinic, legs dangling from the chair. There were only a few healthy Pokémon like her who were waiting for people to exit. The rest of the room was filled with injured explorers.

She saw a Hitmonlee with a black eye, covered in purple bruises. There was a Machamp with three broken arms all in slings. She even saw a Hoppip, scratching at some sort of strange purple rash. She hoped it wasn't contagious.

The doors swung open, and the Snivy from before walked briskly out, grumbling under his breath. Amber hopped off and pursued.

"How is the Squirtle?" she called after him, reaching him a few seconds after her words reached his ears.

He paid her no heed. "Stupid meds won't let me talk to him."

"You mean he's awake!?" cried Amber excitedly. Her mind raced with all of the things she could talk to him about. One way or another, that Squirtle was bound to be an interesting character.

The Snivy shook his head, moving effortlessly to the side to avoid a passerby. He obviously lived in the city. Amber however was not so lucky. She avoided him, but had been indecisive on which way she wanted to go.

"Oof!" she squeaked as she tripped over her own two feet. Mo looked back (not out of consideration) and rolled his eyes when he saw her. He kept going regardless.

"Wait!" she hopped to her feet. "You still haven't told me your name!"

"Mosswell. But I go by Mo."

"Nice to meet you, Mo!" said Amber neighborly. "I'm Amber!"

"Yeah…" _She's really persistent, _Mo thought to himself as he watched out of the corner of his eye as the Torchic pursued him carefree. _She doesn't get that I'm trying to ditch her…well, that would make her interactions with the Tropius make sense…_

He stopped, and she nearly bumped into him as he opened his mouth to speak to her. Mo swallowed an angry remark. "Listen, kid-"

Surprisingly, that elicited an angry reaction. Her eyes narrowed and she spread her legs. "Hey, don't you start calling me kid, either!" she snapped. "I'm your age!"

"Okay, whatever," he puffed, "Just…listen, shouldn't you be getting back to your pal?"

"He's getting his wound fixed right now," she replied as her expression softened, as if she forgot her previous anger. She really was a social creature… "Besides, there's someone I need to find. Perhaps you could help me?"

"What's their name."

"The Pokémon's name is…uh…" she paused to think for a second, looking down at the ground. "Oh! That's right! It was Salty!"

…

The aforementioned Crawdaunt was whipping down the counter of his restaurant when his regular customer, ward, and tenant approached, with a certain feathered guest.

"Well boyo," he chuckled to himself as the two hopped up onto stools, "Didja finally find a willing young lass to join ya on an adventure?"

"Nope," he replied plainly, "We met entirely by accident. But believe it or not, she's here for you, not me." Amber was simulating biting her lip, except with her beak, as she leaned back and forth nervously. "Oh, introductions. Amber, Salty. Salty, Amber."

Salty was a bit puzzled. He put the rag away behind the counter and pulled up a stool. "Alright lass, what can I do ya for?"

She continued her nervous habits. Her eyes fluttered up slowly, but shied away when they met his.

Salty let out a hearty chuckle. "C'mon now! I know I'm ugly, but I ain't _that_ ugly!" As he was laughing, Amber worked up the courage to speak.

"M-my mother told me to find you if anything ever happened," she said softly, looking down at her feet. Sadly was caught from his laughter, and was now invested in her. "And she said to say…um… 'A storm is coming'."

The Crawdaunt's jaw dropped. Mo was taken back a bit. He had never seen Salty so lost, so forlorn. The wise and witty crawfish always had something to say. He always had some kind of answer.

Now, he seemed hard pressed for one. He closed his eyes, and sighed. "Mister?" asked Amber. "W-what does that mean?"

"You're Sarana's little girl, aintcha?" Amber nodded, and Salty sighed again. A sympathetic look like Mo had never seen from the crusty ex-Explorer washed over his face as he reached out a claw to comfort Amber. "I'm sorry fer yer loss, sweetheart."

The two were talking like a grandfather comforting one of his younglings, and not knowing almost angered Mo. Crusty shared everything with him, and he wanted an explanation.

"So," he said annoyed, tapping his foot. The two turned their gaze on him. "Anyone mind telling me what's going on here?"

"That's exactly what I came for," said Amber, "I need an explanation too."

"And yer gonna get it," said Salty, reaching into a pocket in his apron. On the counter he plopped a small painting. It looked like it had faced its own set of Explorations instead of that of simply being located in the pocket of an Explorer. It had been crumpled, torn, burned, soaked, and anything else you could add. At the very left, the picture was torn, shaving a bit off.

Amber hopped onto the table and scrutinized the picture closely. "What's this?"

Mo had seen it a million and one times, though. "That's a picture of Salty's old Exploration Team, Team Roughnecks," he informed the Torchic. "Though I'll admit, I have no idea what this has to do with your deceased mother."

He gave her a compassionate glance and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss, by the way. I know how it feels to lose a parent…"

"Sit tight and I'll explain," said Salty. There were three Pokémon clearly visible in the painting. The tip of Salty's claw came down on the first. It was a Crawdaunt, the reds and various other colors on its shell brighter than Salty's.

"That's me in the glory days," he began, "They used to call me ol Cannon Claws." He chuckled as he snipped his claws open and closed. "You shoulda seen the time I took down a warship with one punch!"

He cleared his throat, returning to the explanation he had sworn to give the Torchic. "Erm, and this was Marina," he said, pointing to the leftmost Pokémon. It was a Milotic, long and graceful, but also deadly, as Mo could see in her eyes.

"Most gorgeous creature on the Seven Seas. But she was twice as deadly, I'll have you know. Charmed most of her opponents into submission. Those who resisted were star struck long enough fer her to put the finishin' touches on em. She coined the term 'hook, line, and sinker'. At least fer fightin', anyway."

Finally, he pointed to the figure in the middle. A Golduck, his arms brimming with muscles. "And this was our leader, Wet-back Mack."

Amber cocked her head to the side. "Wet-back? What does that mean?"

"Ever heard the sayin' 'Like water off a Golduck's back'?" asked Salty. Amber shook her head. "Well, it means that whatever happened, he didn't let it get to him. It didn't matter what the baddies threatened to take or do, or what they took or did. He always kept his promises. Too the very end."

Salty paused for a second, and brought his head back up to bear on Amber. Mo saw a tear glistening on his red carapace. "Amber, your father was a great man."

The Torchic's feathers ruffled. She swallowed hard and almost fell off of the stool. "M-my dad?"

Salty nodded, reaching out to make sure she didn't fall. "I know this must be shocking fer ya. Wouldja like something to drink?"

"I-is he alive!?" she cried frantically, a glimmer of hope remaining that a member of her family persevered. "W-where-"

Salty shushed her. "I'm sorry, darlin'. He's gone too. Mind I ask, if it's not too much…how did yer ma go?"

"A Scizor killed her…I think his name was Sehren."

The stool he sat on scraped as Salty nearly fell of an caught his balance. "Sehren…" he whispered under his breath.

It seemed to Mo that they were getting nowhere. "Wait, who is Sehren?"

Struggling on the inside, Salty brought himself back under control. "Sehren A'Terius is a despicable being that I'm sorry this young lady had to meet."

"Do you know each other?" Amber asked. Salty hesitated, and then nodded.

"Yes…" he began, preparing for a tale he would have to spin. Though there were certain parts he'd be sure to cut out. "We had a run in a while back. He was a bounty hunter…at the time.

"What happened was the Federation put out a Platinum Alert for a priority target out on Seaset Island. Team Roughneck was the closest Exploration Team, and so we headed out. And as our lucky would have it, Sehren was the closest bounty hunter. He headed there too.

"As per Federation regulations, we needed him alive. Sehren had been paid to haul the target back to his boss dead. As you can probably see, that sparked…problems.

"We fought, and the three of us combined barely managed to take him down. We captured the target, got our reward, and headed on home. We thought we'd never see him again."

He shook his head, and croaked, "We were wrong. Dead wrong. Eventually, we all parted ways. We had all found places to settle down. Things we wanted to do, people we wanted to meet. I set up the Shack. Marina set up a successful aquatic postal branch, and Wet-back settled down with his sweetheart."

"My mom," Amber whispered.

"Aye," said Salty, "Even so, we all kept in contact. We were good friends, and we didn't necessarily have to let that end even though our adventures together were at a close.

"Or so we thought. One day I got a letter in the mail. Said it was from an old acquaintance we met a while back…Drogor was his name. Excadrill, he was. Said he'd found out that a certain artifact that we found a while back was the key to some…ancient puzzle er some nonsense. We all decided that we'd go on one last adventure: one last hurrah as a team.

"So we geared up an headed for Mount Razor. We searched for days until we came upon a cave, high up above the ground. But everywhere around the mountain, no signs of Drogor."

This was starting to sound like a ghost story. Amber shivered. "Did you find Drogor?"

"Aye," Salty replied again. "Dead. And just as we realized what was goin' on, Sehren sprung his trap. That blasted bug had lured us out for two things: the artifact, and revenge.

"We fought fiercely, it did no good. We'd gotten used to our new lives. Our skills had dulled, while his had only sharpened." He shuddered, and swallowed hard, his eyes squeezed shut while he relived one of his most horrible memoires. "Marina was the first to go."

His shimmering eyes drifted to Amber, his face was covered in a sheet of fear and curiosity. Salty hated himself for having to say this, but he had sworn to do so. "Mack and I realized we were toast, and did our darndest to get outta there. We almost did, too. But Sehren was too quick. And not just with his wings. Our tricks didn't work. We were out of options.

"And so old Wet-back sacrificed himself so that I could make sure Sehren never got his filthy claws on the artifact."

Mo heard a sob come from Amber, and found himself just standing there, not knowing how to comfort her. He thought that he understood how she was feeling, but found that he really didn't.

The girl had just lost her mother, and was now finding out that the father she never knew had been killed by the very same Pokémon.

And that Salty wasn't even finished yet. "Somehow by the good grace o' Arceus, I made it out alive. Though Sehren and I both took home souvenirs."

Salty backed up, and lifted one of his legs up onto the table. It made an odd _CLUNK_.

Studying it closely made it clear to Amber that it wasn't his actual leg, but a carved piece of wood made to look like one. He brought it back down and finished his story.

"Anyway, he made my way back to Sarana, and told her what happened. I owed Wet-back that much. I woulda offered her to keep the artifact, but if there's one thing ya need to know about Sehren, it's that he never gives up. Especially when he's angry.

"He'd be back, and we knew it. So we set up a system. If Sehren found me, I'd send the artifact back to Sarana, and she'd arrange for it to either be put under major protection, or destroyed. If Sehren found her, same thing, except she'd send her kids to come get it.

"I'm sorry all o' yer siblings couldn't be here," Salty said to Amber. She nodded and sniffled. Tears were flowing down her feathers.

"I-It's okay…"

"None are left, are they? Cuz if any might be, I could send a search party to-"

Mo shook his head. "No use. If what I've heard is correct, Greentree Forest has recently been annexed by a Bug-Type army…lead by Sehren A'Terius."

And then the weight of the world was dropped down on Salty. He stumbled for a moment, lost, before leaning on the counter, head in his hands.

"No…it can't be…h-how Sehren managed to unseat Dyneria VII as Monarch of The Swarm is beyond me…but that makes him exponentially more dangerous. He was powerful, supernaturally so, before. Now, if he's boosted by the Swarm Orb…"

His churning sea of emotion of a face turned into a glare, and he looked directly at Amber, pointing a claw at her face. "Listen to me, girl. I don't really know ya, so I don't know what yer first reaction would be if ya found out his whereabouts. But I'm tellin' ya, right here and right now: never, EVER, engage Sehren A'Terius in combat. Under no circumstance! Do ya promise me that?"

For such an innocent and docile girl, Amber seemed to struggle with her answer. She couldn't meet his eyes when she stuttered out, "Y-yes sir…"

Mo took this chance to ask a question that had been burning away at him. "Did you ever find out what the artifact was?"

Salty shook his head. "Which is what she can do if she so chooses." He suddenly plopped a large object onto the table. It was wrapped in gray cloth.

Amber stared at it at all angles. "W-what is it?"

"This is the artifact," said Salty, pulling off the shade. "This is yer inheritance."

The artifact was smaller than Amber, but not by much. It was onion shaped, and from the looks of it was pure gold. Intricate patterns and engravings lines the sides. At the top it was flat, and the majority of the surface was a flat red ruby.

"This…is mine?" Amber asked, walking slowly around the thing as if she were a Mandibuzz making sure the prey it had found on the road was truly dead.

"Tis indeed. Wet-back found it, Wet-back and his wife are dead. And so it goes to his only livin' daughter."

Amber was truly at a loss for words, and not just out of gratitude. "I…I don't know what to do with it," she said, looking back up at Salty. "Can you keep it for me? Just for a little longer?"

"Course I can," he said, wrapping it back up as if he had expected her to ask just that of him. "It's yers ta deal with, but I'd recommend findin' a way to destroy it."

"Well, to be honest, I-"

"Excuse me!" The three looked to the south, ahead of the Food Shack, as a Chansey wearing a small white hat waddled up. "Are you the two who brought the Squirtle in to the Clinic?"

"Yes…" said Mo. He had hesitated for a minute, waiting for Amber to chime in as he didn't want to be necessarily held accountable for the Squirtle. But she was apparently still taking in everything she had just heard.

"Well, if you could, please accompany me back. The Squirtle has awakened."

* * *

**For those of you who have read my Plasma Saga stories and thought that the Squirtle was gonna be William Grey, I'm sorry for not making this clear enough, but this story has nothing to do with my others (save for a small Easter Egg I have planned for later). So, Will isn't this Squirtle. And it's not Shellshocker, either. We get a brand new one!**

**So, this chapter, we finally reached Quarrysville, after Casper and Team Nasty conspired to break even. What did they mean? We also got to hear about Amber and Salty's past, and Sehren's involvement. But did we hear the whole story? Next week, we'll get a little more insight on Sehren's next move, as well as meet our protagonist, some new OCs, and our heroes' team shall be formed! **

**And yes, I know I promised "insight on Sehren's next move" this week, and I typed it up, and the chapter was way too long for my tastes. I like giving you guys plenty, considering this gets updated once a week, but it's a pacing thing. So Sehren will have to wait a week for his next plot.**

**And sadly, OC submission has come to an end for now. If I need specific kinds of OCs, I will put out a request on a chapter, but until then, I cannot guarantee the acceptance of any new submitted OCs. If you have any ideas, hold onto em until I announce another free submission period, as one will come, so stay tuned!**

**As always, please comment on the story in a review, favorite if you haven't, and see you next week, Explorers!**


	9. Chapter 9: Coming Attacks and Team MAX!

**Previously on Explorers of Destiny:**

**Brute, Amber, Mo, and Team Dazzle (with a little help from the mystery Squirtle) managed to fend off Team Nasty, who unveiled some sort of scheme to break even on the profit they missed out on. The group then made their way (finally) to Quarrysville, where Brute got treated for his injuries and the Squirtle was checked in as well. Mo departed to wait for it to wake up, and Amber followed, revealing that her purpose for coming to Quarrysville was to meet Salty. She does, and is told the tale of her father, Wet-back Mack the Golduck, the leader of Salty's old team, and his tragic demise at the hands of a bounty hunter named Sehren A'terius. Salty is mortified to hear that Sehren is now in charge of The Swarm, and warns Amber to never interfere with him. He then gives Amber her inheritance: a strange treasure that Team Roughnecks had discovered many years ago, and was apparently Sehren's motive for eliminating Amber's family. Just as this all sinks in, an aid from the Clinic comes and informs the two that their guest has awakened.**

**No new submitted OCs this time. I promise next weak there will be a bunch of new ones, though!**

* * *

A small shadow drifted quickly across the barren grey landscape of the Hive Hills, followed by several more, darting behind it, as well as a much larger one.

Ahz rode the wind currents on his way to the capitol of the empire to which he was a willing servant. The not-so-glorious Hive City lay over the next hill, it's form clearly unmistakable from all directions due to the Hive Hills' lack of grass, trees, flowers, and well, anything.

It was a massive complex, but that didn't make it great. Buildings shaped like small hives were tightly bunched together. In the past, there had been no markets: the Queen would distribute food as she saw fit.

And so the large center of the city, where the vast Bug-Type majority would simply congregate, was becoming a swelling cluster of tents and booths as those Sehren had selected to become rich sold the food acquired by their new conquests.

_Perhaps someday these hills will be beautiful again, _though Ahz as he drifted over the city. _Our people will soon be happy and prosperous again…though at the price of others_. He sighed as he thought of this. _I had always prayed to see the return of food and color to our fair city. Though out of respect and friendship, not bloodshed and war. Our brothers and sister go to die…and for what? Pokémon having more reason to hate us?_

Sehren greatly valued Ahz's input. The Mothim was his chief advisor, after all. But this was one thin Ahz decided to never bring up to the warlord: that he was in fact a warmonger.

For if Ahz was removed, he would be there to make sure the people got what they needed?

Several small shadows feel over him, and he immediately recognized who they were: Drones. The poor Combee with no free will, controlled entirely by Sehren to patrol his territories, retrieve goods, attack in uncountable numbers.

Sehren's faceless, and quite expendable henchmen.

Although many looked to the last (correction, previously last) hold of the Bug-Types, and saw it as a cesspool, riddled with poverty and disease. Primitive even. But even Ahz had to admit this system was genius.

His antennae wiggled as they picked up the frequency generated by the Combees' own beating wings, and then replicated it with his own. The Combee beat a tune of acceptance, and broke off their pursuit.

Ahz continued his vector towards the Hive Palace, the massive structure that loomed over Hive City. Flying Bug-Types darted in and out of various openings, giving the illusion of scavengers swarming around a massive dead body.

And overhead was the main body of The Swarm, mindless hordes of Combee and Beedrill, all controlled directly by Sehren. They looked like a colossal black cloud ever hanging over the Palace. And Sehren could certainly raise a storm when he felt the need.

The Palace was huge to Ahz, and he wasn't even close yet. Eventually, he made, it, flying into an opening very high up, which only a few had clearance to enter.

Sehren's personal chambers.

Said quarters were quite spacious, but also quite scarcely furnished. In Hive City, aside from food and water, there was one thing in short supply: space. For over three centuries this had been the only living space Bug-Types had been allowed for themselves, and so the majority of the race was crammed in here.

But having space was a sign of status; room to walk and talk was a luxury. The room's color was a rich yellow brown, like most everything else in the Hive Palace. There were several desks pushed up against walls will scrolls, orbs, and other materiel Sehren had his personal uses for. Other than that, on the bottom tier of the room there were simply a few mementos from Sehren's victories hanging on the walls.

And yes, the room had two tiers. There was a bottom layer that Ahz, when on the ceiling and looking down, had compared to a mushroom. That is, one with its top very stretched out.

A yet short staircase lead up to this top layer, where a large circular table sat surrounded by wooden chairs. This was where Sehren conducted his war conferences. Behind that occupying the rest of the large wall was a map of Poképangea.

Right now, most of it was covered by a thick blue fog. Four holographic figures could be seen through the haze. One was The Infiltrator. Another was Delphius, a Kingdra, the Alliance's seaborne ally. Next to him was the form of Pannak, the Nidoking mountain warlord. The final shape was that of Tartarus, a Slaking who leaned on a massive hammer. His lazy eyes and slack jaw were clearly discernible in this form; he looked like he'd rather be taking a nap than discussing war strategies.

Ahz landed on the wall behind Sehren and passively observed his maser's dealings. The Red Lord stood proud and present whilst he addressed the others, reminding them there even though they all stood in different corners of the continent, he stood in his own realm, and his word carried the influence when given from such a place.

Comparing Sehren to any other Scizor would be a gross discredit. While most Scizor were a dull brown-red, Sehren's carapace gleamed of bright crimson, like blood soaked with cherries. His orange-brown eyes burned with the passion to choke and envelope everything his gaze consumed.

His sharp claws could cleave the horn off of a Rhydon like it was a knife cutting through warm butter. In fact, he had done so once. It hung on the wall in two pieces next to the leg of a troublesome Crawdaunt that had somehow eluded his grasp several years ago.

All in all, Sehren was the description of the word _sharp_. Sharp were his wits, his appearance, his tongue, and literally his claws. There was only one thing the warlord lacked: his left wing.

It had been an unfortunate token of war to another many years passed, but Sehren did not let that cripple him. Not in the slightest. It had been replaced by what appeared to be a large folded hand fan. Fully unveiled it matched the exact diameters of his right wing.

Delphius shook his head. "Sehren," he began in his loud ring of a voice. As he was underwater, the sound of his diction was more like a vibration. "It isn't that I disagree with your ideas, it's just that I refuse to acknowledge them. Plain and simple."

Not looking very amused, Sehren crossed his arms. "I would expect that much from you. After all, there isn't much air to spare underwater, now is there?"

Delphius narrowed his eyes and leaned his shoulders back so that his long body formed an S shape. "Big talk from the skitter king sitting in his palace in the _middle of the continent_!"

"Oh, now what will you have me fear?" Sehren asked sarcastically, waving one of his claws. "Would I have cause for alarm that your forces might launch a mighty cloud of bubbles at my fortress? Or that the tide will come in early? Hm?"

The Kingdra's eyes flared, and before he could make another remark, The Infiltrator's cloaked hand came up. "Gentlemon, please. We are here as allies and friends. We share a mutual goal, and strive towards a mutual reward."

"She's right," growled Pannak. "This does nothing for us. Let our enemies squabble while they try to figure out ways to stop us. Let democracy slow our foes, not us."

Sehren tilted his head to the side, a shallow punctuating his condescending perspective. "You just don't want me to get sidetracked, do you Pannak? I assume you're still dealing with that same…problem?"

His eyes tilted in shame for a fraction of a second, before he straightened back up and growled. Pannak bashed his fists together once and said, "Don't try and back me into a corner, Sehren! I'll just tear it to shreds!"

"Shouldn't you be focusing more on tearing your _problem _to shreds and not the corner?"

Pannak roared, and this time both of The Infiltrator's arms came up. "Enough!" she commanded and directed her gaze on Sehren alone. "Sehren, I believe you have provoked arguments with everyone but Tartarus today." She then added in a motherly tone, "Would you like to do it now and get it out of the way."

He shot a sideways glance over at the Slaking. Upon noticing the warlord hadn't even been looking at him, he turned back. "I see no need. Just as I see no need to justify my actions."

Delphius started. "But-"

"_But _nothing!" snarled Sehren, before regaining his composure. He folded his claws behind his back and began to pace in a semicircle around his four allies. "The invasion of the West Colony in the Iron Hills will proceed as planned. The East and South Colonies have already sworn allegiance to me. As for the north colony-" He looked over to Pannak. "How are they?"

He chuckled deeply. "Crushed like bu-"

Sehren raised an eyebrow. Pannak growled. "-weaklings."

The Infiltrator looked at the four warlords and decided that they could finally continue without any immature arguments. She handed the floor to Delphius, the next in line to give a report.

"I've cut off all main river-based trade routes," he said. "We have parlayed with several pirate groups, adding their crews and ships to our ranks. My forces are currently testing the borders of Atlantis. Minor scrimmages here and there. A little damage now and then. We predict the attack will come in but a few weeks."

"Have you been given any trouble by the Gardevoir Ascendancy?"

Delphius shook his head. "We have encountered only a few of their scout ships. They seem to be making no movements towards the mainland."

The Infiltrator nodded. "That is very good." She now turned to Pannak. "Lord Pannak, have you anything to report?"

"The mines are plentiful and bounteous. Each day our store of armor and weapons increases. Raids have proven very rewarding, and I am sending expeditionary parties to hit villages farther away."

This was a sore point for Ahz. If these Pokémon wanted war, why didn't they just go for it? Why prolong the gruesome prelude to the conflict? Making more Pokémon suffer before the real suffering begins is just beating the dead Ponyta. Stereotypes aside, it was pointless.

"And your problem?" Sehren brought up again. "I am fully willing to send a death squad to deal with it, but surely the great Lord Pannak the Furious could handle such a feat."

Pannak snarled and added, "And what of the Resistance, Sehren? Finally snuffed that out?"

"Simply an errand I have yet to get around to," he retorted coldly. He considering going further and adding another remark about how Pannak would have no idea how to run an empire, but they had already done that song and dance twice in the past few minutes.

The mysterious hostess finally turned to Tartarus. "Lord Tartarus, have you anything to contribute?"

"Gruh?" he slurred, his head bobbing. Sehren felt disappointment well up within him. That such a…_beast _could be considered an equal was insulting every last cell in Sehren's body.

To say he was out of Sehren's league would be a gross understatement. The two didn't even play the same game.

"I have nothing to share," he rumbled in a booming voice that Sehren regretted having to have been wasted on such a good-for-nothing sack of meat.

The ape didn't even wait for a formal dismissal. With his closing words his image flickered out.

Pannak growled. "He would be more fit to decorate the floor of my castle than to lead such a powerful army."

"I must agree with Lord Pannak," Delphius added. "His leadership…if you can even call it that, may cause us all unnecessary grief in the future. For the sake of efficiency, I am concerned."

Sehren waved his claws in a calming motion. "Gentlemon, gentlemon, please." Wearing a guise of pride and genuine authenticity, he tapped his chest and said, "I have faith in Lord Tartarus."

"You do?" asked The Infiltrator.

"Yes," said Sehren, "Well, it's his…leadership that I really have confidence in. I'm sure his assets will be used to their full potential soon enough."

The Infiltrator nodded. "Though I must concur with the general consensus: Tartarus must get his act together."

Pannak and Delphius nodded. Sehren did as well, but also added with a carnivorous grin, "I have a feeling changes will come. And soon."

"Good," said The Infiltrator. "I believe this meeting has drawn to a close. I hope to hear from you all in the near future with good news. Farewell."

One by one, the holographic images flickered out, leaving only the light turquois mist. Ahz took the liberty of flipping off of the wall, and dispersing the residue with a Silver Win.

"Ahz," Sehren said lightly, addressing his prime lieutenant. "I don't even have to ask now. You're quite reliable, you know."

"I live to serve, sir," Ahz said earnestly.

Sehren "tsk tsk tsk"d and shook his head as he moved towards Ahz, plopping a claw on the Mothim's shoulder. And considering Sehren's claw alone weighed several times more than Ahz did, he sunk down momentarily.

"Ahz my friend, you work too hard," Sehren sighed. "And you always refuse my generous rewards."

"Serving the cause is a reward enough, sir," Ahz said as calmly as possible. Responding to Sehren was a dangerous game; one could easily find themselves trapped in the black hole that was his charisma and sealing your fate. Sehren could make you say things you didn't want to say.

Even if he didn't mean it, Ahz would be in deep trouble if he picked a wrong selection of words or showed any signs of hesitation. If he did, Sehren would grab on to that little blemish and tear him apart.

Yet it wasn't entirely a lie. That was one of the reasons Ahz never slipped up with Sehren. He truly was a loyalist, but not to Sehren. To Bug-Types. To his people, not a person.

Turning away from Ahz and releasing his playful grip, Sehren began to make his way to the back of the room. He made his way to the large map of Poképangea in the back of the quarters, which dominated most of the available space.

In red ink, tactical data and information pertaining to Sehren's war plans, as well as those of his allies was scrawled in an ancient Bug-Type dialect called Kharapi. Only two Pokémon in all of Hive City were schooled in reading those glyphs: Ahz and Sehren.

Daggers stabbed into the wall in certain locations, marking Sehren's conquests. There were about a dozen, and among them were the East and South Durant colonies, Greentree Forest, and the Tall Woods.

Next to the West Durant Colony, a dagger was twisted sideways, as if the area were slowly bleeding out and it would be able to soon sink in completely.

Sehren reached for the hook next to the map and removed a dagger. He fanned out his right wing, and opened up his artificial wing with one swift motion of the tiny stub that remained of his real one. Where bone and skin once was, there was now wood and string. And where the thing material that once formed his wing was, there was now strong paper.

With one mighty flap of both, Sehren drifted the thirty feet back it took to clear the table and the space in between it and the top of the stairs where Ahz currently hovered.

"Do you have any news for me, my friend?" asked Sehren as he landed, folding his wings and studying the dagger in his claw.

Ahz nodded and drifted to the side, not so that he imposed directly on Sehren's line of sight, but instead into his peripheral vision so that the Scizor could acknowledge him if he wished. "I do, sir. Several points of good news, actually."

Without looking at Ahz, Sehren shook his head and smiled. "Ahz, bad news never flies with your wings." Sehren looked back to the Mothim and gave his full attention. "Go ahead."

"First, we have captured a prisoner, whom I consider to be valuable."

An interested grunt resembling an elongated "Hm" came from Sehren's throat. "Do elaborate."

"A Council spy," Ahz explained, "She had been skirting along the fringes of our recently captured territories, namely Greentree. Reports came in from several guardsman after their shifts, and it first it was all dismissed as nighttime jitters.

"But as they started to become more frequent, they were brought to my attention, and I examined them. All reports were similar, and so I decided it was too convenient to be a coincidence. I myself organized an ambush, and brought her back to Hive City."

Sehren grinned ferociously as his eyes focused in a sinister and calculating manner. Oh, this fit into his plans pleasantly. Oh so marvelously. So much so he almost lost himself in though.

"What is her condition, Ahz?"

"Asleep," said the Mothim, motioning behind him to the window. "She has been since we found her, and she has been taken to the holding cells."

Sehren nodded. "Keep her that way. I do believe she has found a monumentally beneficial spot on our next little trip."

Ahz had not been informed of any sort of outing, mission or otherwise. "Sir?" he asked.

His master responded with a leisurely wave of one of his claws. "After you finish. Carry on."

"Of course," said Ahz. "Also, your call for any information regarding Torchic has been responded to. Not only that, but those who responded claimed to have heard the Torchic say it hailed from Greentree Forest."

Sehren raised one of his eyebrows in surprise. That detail was to precise to have just been made up on the spot to make the claim seem legitimate. It had to been real. But that meant he had been sloppy…he would correct his mistake.

"Am I yet acquainted with the model citizens who have done their civic duty?"

"No," replied Ahz, "But I hope to see that you soon are. I have invited them to Hive City, and they are being escorted here as we speak. Perhaps some further questioning could turn up some more information."

"Will there coming here be a problem, Ahz?" asked Sehren.

"I do believe it shouldn't be a problem, sir," said Ahz. There was a strict rule in Hive City of not returning with non-Bug-Types, unless of course they were slaves, prisoners, or guests of Sehren. "As a matter of fact, they are all Bug-Types." He stopped and pondered for a second. "Well…technically."

Sehren decided to take his word for it. Ahz had never let him down in the past, and even in the off chance that the Mothim was wrong, what were the chances of something bad happening in the most secure place in all of the Bug-Type empire?

Ahz continued. "Anyway, sir, I have reached the end of my report." He bowed.

"Good," said Sehren, reaching for a scroll on the circular table, and tossing it to Ahz. "Bring this to Tag and Trix. Tell them to don their civvies. They'll know what to do after reading the scroll."

"May I ask why, sir?"

The knife twisted this way and that in Sehren's hand as he flipped it slowly about. "Because we shant delay much longer, Ahz. My allies want something done about Tartarus' leadership, and I think it wrong of myself to let them down." He paused for effect. "Ahz, assemble the Black Aces for flight on my word. Then, prep the prisoner to fly with us. We're going on a safari."

"A safari?" asked the confused Ahz. When that word was used nowadays, it usually met a pleasure outing, and Sehren was a very busy Pokémon.

And then it struck Ahz that his master could just be implying that for the warlord it would be such a trivial task that it wouldn't be cocky to call it fun. "What will we be hunting, sir?"

Sehren grinned. "Apes," he replied, flinging the knife at the map. It sunk flawlessly into its intended target, the Steamy Jungle. "Big, stupid apes."

…

"C'mon, Mo!" cried Amber, turning around and backpedaling as her little legs carried her as fast as they could through the hall in the Clinic. Mo scowled as he walked briskly along.

_This Torchic has way too much energy_, he thought. In all truth he wanted to see this Squirtle badly too, but not as much as to bolt to his location faster even than their escourt.

They finally reached their destination. The Chansey opened the door for them, and before she could even speak, Amber was inside. Mo shook his head and followed her in.

The room was furnished exactly like every other room in the clinic. Smalls stool for the doctor, small counter, cabinet on top, and bed.

Yet every bed contained a different Pokémon with a unique problem. This particular bed contained an amnesiac Squirtle.

His red eyes darted apprehensively around the room, his face covered in uncertainty and fear. This Pokémon had no idea where he was.

He almost fell back on his shell when Amber hopped up onto the edge of the bed. "Hi there!" she chirped.

Almost in disbelief, his eyes scanned her up and down. Most Pokémon would be aware of someone else scrutinizing them, especially at such a close range. But Amber just kept up her blissful façade.

_Funny_, thought Mo. _Considering this is a hospital, you usually don't get many people who are more blissful than Doctor Bliss. _He let out a brief chuckle almost inaudible even to himself. _Scratch that, it's pretty much just in the name._

The Squirtle slowly raised a hand. "H-hi…"

"What's your name?" she asked him, not even skipping a beat.

Mo took this opportunity to hop onto the table as well. He put an arm around Amber and hissed, "He just woke up, take it easy with the questions."

"Oh," said Amber, feeling a bit ashamed. She looked down at her feet. "Sorry…"

"A-actually…" said the Squirtle, unexpectedly breaking the silence. "That's kinda of a good question…I'm having trouble remembering…"

Now that was curious to Mo. To his knowledge there was only one major Squirtle line community, the Spring Village. And considering there were very few other places you'd find a Squirtle making its lodging, they tend to not forget.

"We found you in a strange crater outside of town," said Mo, trying to nudge the amnesiac along the path of remembrance. "From the looks of it, you came down in a meteor."

The Squirtle jumped. "A _meteor!?_"

Mo nodded. "Well, it's not exactly strange for some Pokémon to come down in stars. Lunatone, Solrock, Clefairy…though I've never heard of a falling Squirtle…"

Once again, the Squirtle looked awestruck. "P-Pokémon!? But I'm a human!"

This time it was Amber's turn to jump. "Human! You mean those creatures from the storybooks? You're one of those?" She paused and trotted closer to him. She bent over and studied his legs, and then began to make her way slowly up.

The Squirtle shot Mo a confused look. The Snivy grinned and rolled his eyes.

Amber finished her inspection by staring deep and unflinching into his eyes. The Squritle leaned back, which resulted in Amber just leaning forward.

"Well, you look like a Squirtle to me!" she said cheerily. "And aren't humans supposed to be tall? And have hair on their heads, and paint their nails different colors?"

He shook his head. "No, only some do that last part." All of a sudden, his hands flew to his head as he gasped. "Wait! I'm remembering something!"

Mo nearly jumped himself, but remained cool and composed. "What? What do you remember?"

He spontaneous smile quickly faded to a desperate gawk. "No!" he cried. "I-it's slipping away!"

Then Mo knew there was nothing he could do about it. He knew the sensation: trying to recall a distant memory or dream only to have it slip away.

The Squirtle slumped back down. "I lost it…but I think…" He bit his lip and looked up at the ceiling. "Xavier…that's my name!"

Amber giggled and cocked her head to the side. "That's a funny name!"

"Wait, wait," he said, tapping his chin with a finger. "I think…my friends call me…Josh! Yeah, Josh what most people call me?"

"Why?" asked Mo. Josh shrugged.

"Can't remember. But, I'm sure that's my name. At least it's a start."

Mo grunted as he made his way to Josh. He brushed past Amber and helped Josh back up onto his feet. "Alright, c'mon."

"W-wait!" he stuttered out as he was forced more than helped onto his feet. He stumbled forward. "Where are we going?"

The Snivy had already hopped off of the bed and was making his was for the door. "You're coming with me to the Federation HQ so you can vouch on my behalf and I can become and explorer."

…

"-and I promise I'll be as helpful as possible, and I'll always do my best. I'll take care of myself, and I won't ever get into trouble, and-"

Despite Mo's best efforts, he had been unable to ditch the Torchic now invigorated by the thing Mo should've kept quiet.

_Stupid! _Mo said in his head, mentally beating himself up as he made his way to the front desk in the Federation HQ. _Never mention exploring to a kid! I should've told her I was taking Josh to get his shots. That would've kept her away…_

The lobby of the HQ was a typical waiting area. Several chairs sat up against the entry wall. Posters and plaques dotted the side walls, and on the walls behind the front desk were portraits of three Pokémon, A Garchomp, a Froslass, and a Victreebel: the three Federation Knights who ran this outpost.

Behind the front desk, the Octillery secretary multitasked flawlessly. Her two front tentacles were writing punctiliously on papers in front of her, and were brushed aside regularly and replaced with new ones. In fact, the scrawl of her pens were the only sounds audible in the building.

Her back three tentacles worked with filing cabinets, picking up finished papers, sorting them, and filing them away. Every once in a while she would pick up an envelope and drop it into a slot on the desk.

Mo stopped before the desk, Josh falling in next to him and Amber still listing the things she would make sure would and wouldn't happen if he let her join his team.

He pinched her beak shut, and noise still came from the Torchic for a few seconds before she realized she had been silence. She let out a disappointed groan and backed up.

"Ahem," said Mo, clearing his throat. The Octillery looked up for a moment, and then went back to her work.

"Yes?" she asked uninterestedly.

"I am here to submit myself as an Explorer for the Federation."

She reached one of her tentacles onto a stack of paper and slid it forward. "Please fill out the necessary paperwork."

Mo reached into his bag and removed a fat stack of papers. "Already had 'em pre written up."

"Coming prepared?" said a new voice. "An essential quality in an up-and-coming Explorer." Out of a door to the back right of the front desk came a Victreebel. Mo recognized it immediately as Sir Voss the True, one of the most famous Knights of them all.

He was known throughout the land not only for his prowess in battle, but also his selflessness and full willingness to place himself in mortal danger for others. His body was a testament to that quality, as it was covered in scars.

Sir Voss studied the trio for a moment, noticing Mo's smug confidence, Amber's restless eagerness, and Josh's uncertainty and sliver of fear in his new setting.

"You've put together quite the team," commented Voss. Mo was taken back in surprise, and was quick to shake his head and correct the Knight.

"No, sir, these are not my teammates," he spat out rather quickly, which actually kinda brought Josh down. "The Squirtle is here to vouch for me." He shot Amber a venomous glare. "The kid just refuses to get lost."

Voss's vine came up to scratch his chin. "Oh? They all seem so eager to join you on your quest. In all my years, I have never seen an Explorer refuse help."

Mo shrugged, and was about to tell the Knight otherwise, when his logic overcame his ego.

Not two days ago he had been desperate for teammates, and right here he had two prime candidates. Amber had the loyalty and determination, and Josh had the raw power. He had easily dispatched a much stronger Pokémon, and it had been implied from their earlier conversation that he had no idea how to truly use his powers. What had the Squirtle left yet untapped…?

He didn't even see the need in asking Amber's opinion in the matter. He looked over his shoulder to Josh. "Well…whaddya say?"

The human-turned Squirtle looked at the ground, deep in thought. It was a lot to consider for a normal Pokémon. For once that had no idea about…well, anything except for his name, it must've been a decision harder than life itself.

"Well…I don't have anywhere else to go," he said, bringing his head back up. "And I've seen all the refugees on our way here. All the people who are hurt, lost, looking for help. This world, whether it's mine or not, is in danger. And…well, I feel it's my duty to help."

Voss beamed. "Excellently put, young Squirtle."

Sighing, Mo swiveled now to face Amber, knowing full well the response he'd get. "Amber…?"

"Of course I'll join!" she squealed, wrapping Mo in a choking hug with her tiny wings. She let go and backed up, mellowing momentarily. "I mean…I came here and I met Salty, that's about all I knew to do…I don't really know where to go from here…"

"Then the Federation is truly the place for you, young lady," said Voss. "We have a knack for finding new paths."

Josh's eyes brightened. Sure it was a big world, but did that mean there was no chance of him figuring things out? Of course not! And hey, he could even do a little good along the way.

Mo shuffled through the papers, grabbing one with two leafy fingers and pulling it out. "This is the team form. I left it blank, you know, just in case. So…fill it out you guys."

Amber was handed a pen from the counter by Sir Voss, and she filled out her own portion of the sheet. Mo flipped it over and handed it to Josh, who filled out the first few tabs before stopping.

"Uh, sir?" he asked, turning up to Voss. "I don't really have a 'Hometown.' See, I'm a hu-"

Mo clamped his hands over Josh's mouth. "-u-u-u-ge fan of traveling! He gets really sentimental about it, too. He considers himself a vagabond."

Voss scratched his head. "Well then, I suppose you'd put the location you intend on locating your base."

"Just put Quarrysville," whispered Mo, tapping the paper. Josh shot him a confused glance.

"Why? I was gonna tell him I'm human so that maybe he could help."

Mo put an arm around his soon to be teammate. "See, claiming to be a human with amnesia means one of three things around these parts: either you're crazy, you just want attention, or you're trying to dodge taxes."

Josh scrunched his eyes. "How does that work as a tax dodge?"

He received a pat on the back of the shell from Mo. "Tell ya later. For now, just fill it out."

Mo took the paper back and relocated it into the correct order. He sighed satisfactorily, looking at the finally completed paper. "Alright," he breathed, "We're done."

Voss' vine snaked down and tapped the front of the very top sheet. "What about a team name? It's the most important part!"

The Snivy facepalmed. "Almost forgot. Team Mo it is…"

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" said Josh, almost laughing, as he forced Mo's pen hand down. "Don't you think we should all agree on a name?"

He rolled his eyes and tapped his foot. "Fine. Make it quick. Don't make it to weird or-"

"MAX!" chimed Amber. Both boys turned to her.

"Excuse me?" said Mo.

"You know," she explained, "Mo, Amber, Xavier. MAX."

Josh turned back to the paper. "Kinda catchy. Dontcha think?"

Mo shrugged. This would be the name his team would forever be known as. The one that would soon go up on the leaderboards, and if he made a good impression on the world, they would be known as. It was they're stamp on society.

And he honestly thought it was catchy.

Mo scribbled it down onto the paper, and plopped the stack onto the counter. "Done!"

"Great!" said Sir Voss, reaching behind the counter to grab something. "Now all you need is someone to vouch on your behalf, and you'll be all set!"

Something struck Mo, and it almost looked like he had been physically struck from behind. Now that Josh was on the team, he couldn't vouch for them!

"I'll be doin' the honors, sir."

In through the door walked Salty, carrying himself with a proud gait. Mo ran up to meet him. "Salty, I though you said you wouldn't be the one to vouch for my team?"

The Crawdaunt nodded, and made the rest of the walk to the counter and stood to face Sir Voss. "I did say that, boyo. I said that I wouldn't vouch for you if you _got _a team. But ye went out and found one. A loyal crew, by the looks o' it."

The old crab sniffled. "Besides…ever since I left the Federation…oh, I always just wanted to leave my mark on the next generation o' Explorers!" He wiped away a tear.

Mo shook his head. "You may have the strongest shell in Quarrysville, but you truly are a big softie on the inside." He face Sir Voss. "Well? Is Salty reputable."

Voss nodded. "Very much so. The praise of an ex-Roughneck is high praise indeed. We may proceed onward."

Both older Pokémon straightened up, and Voss began. "Do you, Salty, give your word of confidence for the formation of Team MAX?"

"I do."

"Do you claim that, on your honor, they are ready to face the challenges ahead?"

"I do."

"Do you claim that there intentions are none but to aid a suffering world, and all the Pokémon in it?"

"I do."

"And do you claim that they are willing to give the ultimate sacrifice in the name of justice, by justice, and for justice?"

"I do."

Sir Voss nodded, and then brought his vine out from behind his back. In it were three small round shapes, each with a small pair of wings sculpted into the stone: exploration badges. The gem in the middle was of a plain white-grey.

"Then I, Sir Voss the True, Forty Eighth of The Oath, do bestow upon Mosswell the Snivy, Amber the Torchic, and Xavier the Squirtle, the rank and privilege of Exploration Team, and authorize the immediate activation and formation of Exploration Team MAX."

* * *

**Well, this week we got a heaping helping of Sehren and his evil plans, as well as learning that Pokepangea may be in much more trouble than we've seen so far. Not only that, but Sehren is apparently dealing with some sort of rebellion amongst the Bug-Types. What's up with that? How many sub plots can possibly be going on with, say, Delphius or Pannak? I guess you'll have to wait and see...**

**And our mysterious Squirtle has finally been revealed, and our main team has taken form! This story is really starting to take off, and believe me, you've seen nothing yet!**

**What is Sehren planning? How has Syamo's journey gone so far? And what of his two followers? Where will Team MAX go next? Stay tuned to find out!**


	10. Chapter 10: Opportunities

**Last time on Explorers of Destiny:**

**Ahz arrived in Hive City just in time to listen in on Sehren's conference call with the other higher-ups in the Shadow Alliance. All seems to be going well for the evil warlords. Sehren is told by Ahz that a Council spy has been captured, and that rumors of a Torchic in Quarrysville have surfaced. Sehren begins to unravel a plan, ordering two agents to go to work, and telling Ahz to prepare for a "safari". Meanwhile, the Squirtle wakes up, and reveals that it is actually a human named Xavier(otherwise known as Josh). He has amnesia and is confused as to why he is here. After the three outcasts agree to band togetehr to each find what they're looking for, Team MAX is formed. What will happen next? Find out now!**

**This chapter we will have new OCs from wolfboydude52, as well as some more from Pokekid543. More will be coming soon, so stay tuned if you're waiting for yours!**

**(P.S. In the event I use an OC and fail to give credit, feel free to correct me. That is, the first time they are introduced. After that, I'm not gonna give credit for an OC every single time they're used).**

**On to the chapter! A new OC Submission has begun, but you must read the bottom for the specifics. Plus, I'd appreciate if you read everything in between this and that...and reviewed...**

* * *

"Well, this is the place," murmured the Shuppet as she lead the Treeko up to the imposing cantina on the fringes of Quarrysville. The establishment was called "Dragon's Rage," and sported a large wooden cutout of a Dragonite breathing fire into a mug near the roof.

The name made sense on several levels: most of the cantina's personnel were Dragon-Types, and it was also the name of their signature drink.

On the other hand (or claw in this situation) the cantina was oddly enough owned by an Ice-Type. But it reflected his position and attitude just fine.

The Treeko looked up, studying the sign. The Shuppet knew he was simply thinking on whatever business he had inside, but she had a job to get back to. Information brokering didn't come cheap.

"Ahem," she said, nudging him. Over her already cloak-like appearance, she wore a brown hooded cloak. If it were white and had two hole in it, it would've fulfilled the "Bed-sheet Ghost" stereotype perfectly.

"This is as far as I go," she informed him. "He's in there."

The Treeko raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"My information is good. I assumed you put faith in it when you hired me," she added with spice.

The Wood Gecko reeled like he was truly surprised at her taking offense, but it all reality she was just being sarcastic. "W-well, it just wanted to make sure-"

She snickered. "Stilio, you amuse me."

Once again the Treeko was taken aback by the Shuppet's obscure remark. Information brokers were strange, enigmatic Pokémon who pretty much literally lived in the shadows.

And a mysterious organism comes with its own mysterious sense of humor, and so Stilio tried to lessen his odd disposition.

He began to walk forward, but stopped when he realized that the Shuppet had stayed rooted where she was (if a levitating Pokémon can be rooted that is).

"You're not coming?" he asked. She smiled and shook her head.

"Sorry, pal, but the deal was for me to take you to Lancelot. And, wouldn't you know it, here we are! So, I'm leaving."

It was imperative that Stilio enter with the broker, and so he pleaded. "Can you just come in with me and bring me to him, Erin? An Explorer walking right up to him probably won't be the ideal first impression. At least it isn't the one I wanna make."

Erin thought for a moment. This whole time she had honestly thought this idiot was going to try and go for Lancelot. Big whoop, another one bites the dust. She'd get paid, and as long as Lancelot didn't find out it was her who led troublemakers to him, she'd be scot-free.

But this numbskull was different. He must've had some sort of business proposal for Lancelot. Most of the Explorers who thought they could just waltz in and take down the big man ditched their guide, thinking it smart to enter inconspicuously.

If he wanted Lancelot to see that he was brought here…

Erin sighed, and began to drift forward. "Fine, I'll do it. But you're paying me extra."

Stilio held out his hand to shake, but hastily recalled it when he realized that Erin could do no such thing. She snickered as she caught up with him. "I-It's a deal," he choked out, nervously rubbing the back of his head.

"500 per minute," she clarified. "Just stick close to me, and don't look anyone in the eye. I'll take you to Lancelot, you can do what you've gotta do, and we can leave."

The two crossed the threshold into the cantina, and immediately the atmosphere changed. The heat and dryer temperature hit them like a brick wall; instantly as they entered. It was noticeably darker, as only a few torches on the wall lit the place.

Except, of course, for the dance floor, which flashed different colors and strobed silhouettes against the wall. Behind the scenes (more like under them) these special effects were caused by a group of Chinchau under the employ of Lancelot, who shined their lights into pools of colored water at odd intervals.

The smells of unwashed, rowdy Pokémon mixed with a tang of assorted foods and beverages wafted through the air, tickling Stilio's nose like fire. And while grunts, growls, screams, laughter, and other noises filled the air, he knew a shrill sneeze would attract attention, and so he held it back the best he could. In the corner, a mostly woodwind band played a classic cantina tune.

Erin and Stilio walked in between the bar counter and a row of tables. Trying not to turn his head entirely, Stilio watched as a burly Charizard downed an entire mug's worth of whatever the cup contained. He began to hack and choke, slamming his fist on the table as he braced his throat.

"What's that guy's problem?" whispered Stilio as inconspicuously as possible to Erin.

"_Gaisras_," she whispered back.

"I've never heard of that disease."

Another grin and shake of the head from the entertained Shuppet at Stilio's naiveté. "No, idiot, _gaisras _is a drink popular among Dragon-Types and some Fire-Types. It's distilled Oran Berry grog with a few more spices and ingredients. Before consumption, the drink is lit on fire, but out, and then served."

Stilio shivered as he imagined what would happen if he, a Grass-Type ingested that. The image that flashed into his mind was not pretty, and involved something along the lines of his throat melting.

Suddenly, a large Gurdur brushed past Stilio, flipping his body to the side. "Watch it!" the Pokémon called back, before continuing on his way.

Erin nervously gritted her teeth, and her eyes darted up to the top floor of the cantina, which could be seen past the railing above the dance floor.

There on a throne-like chair sat Lancelot, the Weavile crime lord who owned this bar. The officials called him a "wannabe" and a "minor threat," but he was far more influential and powerful than they knew.

Unlike some amateur wannabes who would strike out obviously and immediately after addressed as such. But not Lancelot. He didn't mind what went on behind his back. He was far too bust looking forward.

The chair was flanked by two Druddigon. The red scales on their face nearly burned into Erin's corneas as she realized they had been noticed.

"Bar," hissed Erin, "Quick!"

The twosome both took seats at the bar, sitting down as seamlessly as possible to make it seem like they had intended themselves to be there the whole time.

"What!?" whispered Stilio, making it look like he was conversing with a friend, smiling and waving his hands. "How did they notice?"

"Never mind that!" hissed Erin, nodding her head to the bartender to order a drink. "Listen, the best thing we can do now is not attract any more attention."

The bartender set down a drew with two stone cups on it. "Right," said Stilio, taking his and making sure it wasn't _gaisras _before drinking.

But right as he was lifting his arm to bring the cup to his lips, he felt his elbow rub against something moist and scaly. His large, paneled Treeko eyes caught the snarling maw of an irate Drapion.

The enormous Poison-Type began to growl in a language he didn't comprehend, one in which there were many lip movements and the vowels were quite pronounced.

He tried to return nonchalantly to his drink, but felt a claw grip his elbow. He was turned around to face the Croconaw who had grabbed him.

"He doesn't like you," said the stranger, translating.

"Sorry," said Stilio, giving an apologetic wave of his hand. He tried to turn back around, but was yanked back by the Croconaw.

The Crocodile Pokémon tapped his own chest. "_I _don't like you either. You just watch yourself. We're wanted mon. I have a death mark in twelve holds!"

"I'll be careful…" murmured Stilio, running out of ways to stay out of this guy's way. These brutish types all had one thing in common: they were usually incredibly dense. One wrong word and he was toast.

And he could already tell from the Corona's sweltering breath and the Drain's venomous stare that he wasn't doing too well.

"You'll be _dead_!" shouted the Croconaw. The Drapion scuttled forward and raised a claw high into the air. But when he brought it down, a great blade, black as night, cleaved it in half.

The smoldering piece of insectoid meat fell down onto the ground, squirming for a few seconds before it lay idle.

The Drapion roared in pain and stumbled back, clutching the arm that was effectively half as long as it was a few minutes ago.

His accomplice shot a nervous glance to the side, and ran to join him

Stilio tried to look at what he had seen, but felt a pair of meaty claws clamp down on his shoulders, fixing him in place.

Taking his time, Lancelot climbed up into the seat. He looked very much not amused, almost bored in fact. He looked straight at the rows of glasses on the wall, and not at Stilio at all.

"I'm quite sorry," he sighed, not paying Stilio any heed. "Some of these cretins are…not very housewarming, wouldn't you say?"

He rested his chin in his paw for a few moment and looked thoughtful. "You know, you explorers are very bad at looking discreet," he jeered tranquilly. He tapped his claw on the counter, and the Golett tending bar rushed over to him and poured a tall glass of a mysterious crimson liquid.

"Really?" asked Stilio as his eyes swiveled around him to assess the situation. The two Druddigon were standing behind them, body's spread wide, preventing any escape.

Or just waiting until their master told them that Stilio was up for eating. "Because I thought I was doing a good job?"

The phantom of a grin appeared on Lancelot's face, but it instantly vanished. He stirred the brew with a claw. "If you end up leaving alive, I suggest you tell your friend that he is the worst backup mon ever."

Lancelot pointed with his other hand to a table across the way, where a long hooded figure sat, not knowing that he was currently being addressed.

"I'll be sure to tell him that," he said dryly. "Now, about why I'm here."

The Weavile sighed, and rested his chin on his fist. "Let me guess? In the name of the Federation, I'm under arrest for blah de blah de blah…"

One of the Druddigon bodyguards snarled, and lunged at Stilio. The Treeko was nimble enough to leap up out of the way, and onto the counter, knocking over a few glasses with his heel.

A number of Pokémon throughout the cantina turned to look at the scene unfolding. It was as if they didn't care for the noise, but had some sort of built-in radar for when somewhat messed with the master.

Lancelot closed his eyes and sighed. He'd have to stop this before it got out of hand. Again. His bodyguards weren't always the greatest of hosts.

As he raised his claw, a blur of black and crème colored fur leapt over him, landing on the counter as well.

Stilio looked down at the Quilava and grinned. "Oh, Inferno, I'm supposed to tell you that you're the worst backup mon ever."

The Quilava puffed a tuft of fur out of his eye. "Meh, everyone's a critic."

"And also, you smell."

Inferno sneered as he took his ready stance, hunkering down on his forelegs and rising on his back legs. "Hey, I couldn't come in here smelling like charcoal. I had to blend in." He nodded superciliously at one of the Druddigon. "No offense, Tiny."

He growled and snapped his jaws, drawing closer to the counter. Now, a couple of his buddies and regulars were getting up, wanting to take part in the ensuing bar fight.

A Fraxure hopped up from his table, as well as a Pupitar and a Croagunk. Several Pokémon including an intoxicated looking Tyranitar began to stumble towards the commotion.

Lancelot sighed once more. _Well, no point in stopping them now…_

Erin rolled her eyes and drifted away. _They always have to make a scene…_

Just as the lead Druddigon raised a claw to strike the first bow, yet another blur shot overhead, this one light blue and white.

The Oshawott dismounted from its front flip and grabbed its scalchop, pulling the shell into fighting position. It glowed blue and extended.

He shook his head. "A guy tries to enjoy lunch and this is what happens?"

"Did you enjoy lunch?" asked Inferno to his partner. While Inferno had truly been the backup mon, Squirt served as a sort of backup backup mon, though part of his job was to alert the backup mon when he had…you know, backing up to do.

"The atmosphere was terrible, and the food wasn't much better."

The lead Druddigon roared, saliva flying everywhere. "I'm sick of all this small talk!" His lackeys had taken full force behind him, numbering at about thirty to thirty five. Team Elemental was desperately, if not hilariously, outmatched.

Squirt sneered, brandishing his scalchop. "I'm pickin' the place next time."

They lunged.

…

Team MAX, Mo in the lead, made their way to the Quarrysville Post Office. They followed the cobblestone path winding up the small hill, passing Pokémon going to and from the office.

Amber, in all of her jubilant excitement, kept trying to pass Mo in his steady gait, but kept falling behind due to her disproportionately small legs.

Josh fell a bit behind the rest, but he had a good reason. A human in the Pokémon world wasn't only a wonder to all those around, but a wonder to himself.

He watched as Pokémon conversed and went about everyday business, from a group of Azuril playing with tiny windmills in a patch of grass, to a mighty Salamance buying groceries from a Keckleon in a booth.

The human-turned-Squirtle was awed by this fantastic new world, and with every step he took it just kept getting more fanciful.

The path they walked wound wide up a hill, and gave him a circling view of a stone courtyard below, surrounded by the hills of Quarrysville, separating it from the rest of the city by all but a small path cut in between said hills.

Stalls and booths lined the natural walls, and a small stage was set up in the center. On it stood a Simisage and a Miccino. Well, the Simisage was sitting cross legged, and strumming his acoustic instrument. What exactly was it…?

The Miccino was jumping about the front of the stage and waving her arms, weaving an elaborate tale to the young Pokémon arrayed before the platform.

Josh stopped and looked, and felt a tickle on his right cheek. Amber had come to stand next to him, and a gentle breeze had blown tufts of feathers into his face.

"Who're they?" asked Josh, pointing to the entertainers.

"Hm. I don't know." She looked up the hill and cried, "Mo?"

The Snivy had not realized that the both of them had stopped and therefore had kept going. His initial reaction was annoyance.

"They're storytellers," he said, rolling his eyes. "They come every once in a while and tell people about what's going on in different parts of the world. They're like an audible newspaper."

He waved a leafy hand up the hill. "Now come on, let's go find a suitable first mission."

The two were hesitant to move at first. Though Josh was completely new to this world, Amber was just as mystified. Having been raised in the forest her life, most everything in Quarrysville wowed her.

Mo sighed and relented. "Fine. Go ahead, check it out." He started to go, but then stopped and added. "But that means I get to pick the-"

Before he could even finish the sentence they were off. "-job." He crossed his arms and scowled, resuming his uphill trek, unsure of whether or not he had signed up for an Exploration Team or a babysitting service.

…

Josh and Amber made their way back down the hill, and ran to the crown assembled before the stage. They could now clearly hear the melodic tune played by the Simisage's instrument to set the mood of the event.

Amber tapped the Gligar in front of her with a talon. "Excuse me? Who are they?"

"The storytellers? Well, the Miccino, the one telling the story, is Dot. The Simisage is Wakko. He's the one playing the lute."

Immediately the music stopped with an unusual twang. Wakko shot up and held out his instrument. "Actually, it's a mandala! A lute has ten strings, while a mandala only has eight. The other differences are-"

Dot flicked her head back and whistled. "Oh," said Wakko awkwardly, "Sorry…" He sat back down and continued to strum. Dot continued her story.

"-and rumor has it that at this very moment, the warlord plots to come and overthrow Mayor Slerrick, and add Quarrysville to his domain."

A collective gasp overtook the audience, and the young Pokémon nervously conversed with one another. Josh could've sworn he even heard one crying.

Dot looked from side to side at her audience, and put a special emphasis on "_But-_" Everyone's attention snapped back to her.

"-there are those who would oppose him. Whispers of _rebellion _amongst the Bug-Types. The valiantly strike out at the warlord's activities, not only for themselves but for the wellbeing of Pokémon everywhere.

"Their base's location is unknown. Their true strength and numbers are unknown, as is their true motive. But we do know their leader. At least, a rumor of who their leader is."

Wakko's mandala playing grew elongated and cryptic as Dot leaned forward as far as her little body would allow.

Even Josh had to admit he was hanging on what the answer was.

"The Scyther…" One of Dot's tiny paws slowly rose and pointed to her right eye, "-with the red eye…"

She straightened up. "It is said that he gained this scar from a battle with the warlord himself, and that it grew as red as his opponent's body; his ambitions. We know not his name, but we do know the name of his mortal enemy:-"

Amber nearly shrieked when she heard the name, "_Sehren A'terius._"

…

Mo exited the post office, and peeked around the corner. Down the hill he could see Josh and Amber standing side by side. Amber was looking down, and Josh had an arm wrapped around her.

What was he doing? Telling her something?

Bypassing the hill altogether, Mo slid down on his feet, stumbling to regain his balance when he reached the bottom.

"Hey guys," he said, approaching his teammates, "Guess who I-"

And then he saw Amber's face. He feathers were matted down with tears, and her eyes were puffy and red.

Mo shot Josh a, "What happened?" glance. The Squirtle gently let go of her head.

"Those storytellers over there mentioned some warlord named Sehren. She just lost it after that."

Mo nodded. "She has a bit of a history with the guy. He killed both of her parents, and his armies took over her hometown."

Josh shook his head in disbelief, and came up almost looking angry. "Well, this far out, his conquests are apparently just _rumors_. Everyone thinks there just some kind of fabrication, and those that don't think it's so far away that it won't remotely affect them in any way. So, they don't care."

Mo felt disgusted as well, but something even more remarkable came to mind. This Squirtle had woken up a few hours ago claiming to be a human. He was trapped in this world, and Mo had to admit that if he was in this position the foremost thought on his mind would be getting out; focusing on his old world.

But Josh's focuses were here. In this world. On its inhabitants and their problems.

And so Mo took back every negative thought he had about forming a team with the two.

Josh took a deep breath and tried to forget what the other Pokémon had said. "Anyway, did you get us a job?"

The Snivy responded by digging into the bag slung over his shoulder, and tossing Josh a yellow bundle. Josh unwrapped it and found it to be a scarf.

"Since the only attack we know you can use is Water Gun, our best bet was to get you a Special Band."

Josh stomped his foot on the ground in protest. "Hey, I don't need a 'special' band! Just because I'm human, doesn't mean I'll-"

A chuckled came from Mo, who raised his hand to stop Josh. "No, idiot. Any attack that doesn't require physical contact and has some kind of immediate effect like damage is a Special Attack. Water Gun is one of such attacks."

"Oh…" Josh scratched his head and laughed sheepishly. "Sorry! So, does this mean-"

"Yup. You'll probably be needing it in the Rocky Ruins."

Josh leapt into the air. "Yahoo!" He stopped and turned happily to Amber. "Hear that, Amber! We got out first mission!"

Amber sniffled, and regained composure just in time to get smacked in the face by her own ribbon. "Hey!"

"Sorry," said Mo inattentively, still rifling through his bag. "I know teams usually have specialized ones, but these will do for now. I place and order when we get back."

Josh tied his around his neck, and waited for Amber to finish hers. The teammates admired their unofficial, yet very real gear.

Amber's eyes widened. "You know what this means, don't you?"

"Uh, no," said Josh, scratching his head. Did such a thing mean something sentimental to Pokémon…? "What?"

"This is our first team gear! Like, ever!"

Mo rolled his eyes as the two high-fived. He then produced a letter from his bag. "I met a Nidoran up in the Post Office. Claims his sister is trapped in these ruins. I've done a little reading on the Rocky Ruins. Shouldn't be too tough, and it's passed an area of the Yellow Woods that Ferals sometimes wander out onto-"

Amber coughed. "And that's a good thing why?"

"Will you let me finish!?" snapped Mo before clenching the paper. "I was _going _to say that we could probably squeeze in some training on the way, to see what strategies work among us and to test skills."

The "test skills" part, Josh felt, was directed at him. He didn't blame Mo for hinting at this, but still wouldn't have minded him actually saying that Josh out of all of them should test their powers.

After all, he would be no good in a sticky situation if he had absolutely no idea what he could do, now would he?

"Excuse me?" said a familiar voice, "Did we hear you say 'Rocky Ruins'?"

The whole of Team Max turned and saw Team Dazzle standing behind them. Amy was looking nervously at the ground, pawing at a small patch of dirt. Jake looked a bit tense as well.

"Yeah," said Mo, folding the paper and putting it back in his satchel. "Why?"

"Well…" Jake bit his lip and his eyes ventured. "We've been throwing ourselves at the place for a while, and to no avail."

Amber gasped. "How long has this poor girl been in these ruins!?"

Amy now looked up to clarify, seeing renewal in the fact that Team MAX genuinely wanted to go there. "No. This place has been a secret for a while. We bought a treasure map off of a vendor down town, and we were guaranteed that it was one of a kind; no one else knew about it."

"Make's sense," said Josh, tapping his cheek. "Let me guess: you wanted to get the treasure before anyone else found out it existed."

"Bingo," said Jake with a nod. "But, you see, the Rocky Ruins…let's just say maps don't do much good. Or at least they haven't. Though we think with two Exploration Teams, we might be able to take it on?"

Mo's tail swished impatiently, his hands on his hips. "How so?"

"Well…I think we could explain it better when we get there," said Jake, drifting back towards the path leading to the rest of town. "You guys comin'?"

Team MAX conferred with each other. Josh shrugged. "Well, we can't just give up on that Nidoran. I say we go."

"Me too!" squeaked Amber.

Watching Team Dazzle go ahead of them, Mo's face scrunched quizzically. "I dunno, guys. You think they hired that Nidoran to lie to us about his sister, just so they could get us to fight alongside them free of charge?"

Amber seemed baffled by this, her beak hanging open. "Why would they do that?"

_This girl really is naïve, _thought Mo, _To think she just lost her home, her family, and everything she knew, and her innocence is still intact…_

Mo relented. "Fine," he said with a sigh, "We'll go, but if there is no Nidoran, we're taking some of that treasure for our troubles. And by force if we have to."

"Yeah!" shouted Josh, pumping his fist in the air. "Let's take it to the MAX!"

He looked back and forth from Mo to Amber for approval, a wide smile on his face. "Well? I was thinking that could be our catchphrase!"

Shaking his head and groaning, Mo began in the direction of Team Dazzle. "Please never say that again…"

Amber giggled and followed behind him. "I kinda liked it!"

…

Another wooden chair sailed over Stilio's head, but the Treeko was far too nimble. Staying low to the floor, be began his dash towards the Machamp.

The four armed humanoid picked up another chair and hurled it at Stilio, who pushed off of the floor with one foot, off of a wooden beam with another, and sailed into the Machamp's face with a kick.

The ruffian stumbled back and landed on a table, shattering it. Stilio whipped around just in time to see the Boufalant charging for him. He leapt nimbly onto the its back, and then off of it.

Unable to recover from its own momentum, it ran straight into a wall, and remained stuck there thanks to its horns.

Back at the bar, Squirt was keeping attackers off of the counter with precise swipes from his scalchop. As they would jump up to engage him in the table, he was use a powerful Razor Shell to knock them back.

Inferno was using the size of most of his opponents against them, darting in between their legs and then singing them in the back with a Lava Plume. This strategy worked pretty well for him: most of his opponents fit in at this cantina, meaning they were arrogant, thickheaded, and most likely out of it.

Back up in his chair, Lancelot tapped a claw against the wooden arm, only one of his Druddigon bodyguards at his side. The other, the one that had initiated the fight in the first place, was down there enjoying it.

Though at this point Lancelot was not. He took a slow deep breath, and then commanded, "Enough!"

At once, all rambunctiousness ceased. Chairs and other pieces of the cantina were dropped. Grips were released.

A Tyrogue and a Magmar were locked in a rather awkward position. The Magmar had tackled the Tyrogue and had been strangling him, and the Tyrogue had grabbed a glass bottle and was about to smack the Magmar on the head with it.

The Magmar's hands hovered above the Tyrogue's throat, and while still looking up at Lancelot, whacked the Magmar on the head with the bottle.

Lancelot hopped up from his chair, and up onto the railing. He looked down at Stilio most impugning, his dark gaze trying to stab through Stilio's lanes like eyes.

"I hope you have a good reason for coming here, because if it _was_ to arrest me-" he yawned, "I'm afraid I've grown frightfully tired of that."

Stilio shook his head, and reach into his bag. Out he pulled a letter, and held it up. "I've got a business proposal for you."

"Humph." He crossed his arms. "What could _you _possibly have to offer _me?_"

"Me? Nothing. But Nershen apparently has something to offer. At least ten million Poké, that is. And according to him, that's just the down payment."

Had it not been Lancelot the deal was meant for, all the Pokémon in the cantina would've torn Stilio's arm off for that letter. Instead, they were forced to simply lick their lips and watch as their better considered it.

Lancelot jerked his head towards Stilio, and a Murkrow took off from its perch and fluttered down below. It indecently snatched the letter from the Treeko's hand and flew back up, presenting it to Lancelot.

Squirt looked around at the outlaws arrayed around him, most of them being prepared to attack him several minutes ago. He scoffed. "This how you treat all of your business partners?"

The letter was dropped into Lancelot's waiting claws. "No," he responded coolly, studying the letter and not Squirt. "I am very much a businessman, you see. And the number one lesson in my line of business is that trust is bad for it."

Frowning, he flicked his claws at the door. "You may go now. You've cause enough damage to my establishment, wouldn't you say?"

Stilio's curious gaze was hard to wrench away from the Weavile as he turned to leave. He was more curious as to figuring out that crime boss than he was the letter.

Inferno hopped up and scurried after his leader, glad to leave. Squirt shot angry glances at several Pokémon as he hopped off the bar and followed.

On their way out, Erin the Shuppet met them. "So, I counted the time. That fight took about twenty five minutes, but I'll just round down to twenty four."

The Shuppet grinned sweetly as Stilio remembered what she meant. Rolling his eyes, he signed another credit chit with the precise amount he owed her.

"Thank you for your honesty!" she said sweetly, immediately turning around and floating back into the cantina. She stopped at the dance floor, and drifted up until she was eye level with Lancelot.

"Alright, what's your cut?" asked the information broker.

Lancelot pondered for a second. "Sixteen thousand."

"Wha! No way! Ten thousand! I'd have nothing left!"

He gestured with a waved of his arm to the ruinous below of the cantina. "Your clients caused quite an extensive amount of damage."

Erin and Lancelot had a deal: Erin could make money off of leading headstrong Pokémon with illusions of grandeur to Lancelot so they could "arrest" him, and Lancelot would allow rumors to slip that she knew where to find him, so business would be good. In return, Lancelot would get a cut of what she was paid. And if any additional damages were caused, that came out of her wallet.

She bit her lip. "Fine. Eleven, but that's as high as I go."

Lancelot hopped down off of the balcony and retook his seat. "I can accept that." He grinned and his eyes flicked to Erin. "I'd shake your hand, but-"

Erin rolled her eyes and began to drift towards the door. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You'll get your cut once I cash these chits."

Even though she couldn't see him, Lancelot nodded. He knew Erin was good for her word: a broker who wasn't would be horrible at her job.

When she reached the door, two Sableye rushed past her. She recognized them immediately: Finn and Carol. Erin saw them both regularly, but she and Finn went back a little.

Another story, another time.

Anyway, Finn and Carol ran up the stairs to Lancelot's level rather breathlessly and in a hurry.

"Boss!" cried Finn, "Some jerk messed with us! We want!"

"Revenge?" interrupted Lancelot, raising an eyebrow. He was all too familiar with the two Sableye's mishaps. They were good crooks, but the second they were bested they'd be bloodthirsty for vengeance.

"Who was it and what did they do?" he asked lazily, going through the motions.

"Some Blaziken who thought he was all that!" squawked Carol.

Lancelot shrugged. "Well, you're free right now. Go get him!"

Carol rubbed her arm and looked at the ground. "He was, uh…kinda tough…"

"But don't worry!" cried Finn, digging into his bag. "We have a plan to get him back."

Lancelot rolled his eyes and rested his arm on the side of his chair. _This ought to be good…_

Out of his bag, Finn fished out a crumpled up piece of paper. Unrolling it revealed a portrait of an Ursurang, and bounty information.

"I snatched it off the punk when he picked me up," Finn added with a snicker. "He's going after Jedore."

Jedore was the leader of the Blood Pack, a rather large mercenary group. She was bossy and a bit of a pushover when it came to leadership, but she was no stranger to a good fight.

Even Lancelot couldn't help but grin wolfishly at the plan Finn was proposing. "So…what's say we send out old friend Jedore a little notice, eh?"

He nodded to the Murkrow, who took off without skipping a beat.

And with that business handled, Lancelot leaned back in his chair, and opened the letter.

* * *

**And the plot thickens! Team MAX's first adventure coincides with one Team Dazzle has been trying to complete for a while. What will the five encounter in the Rocky Ruins? What was in this letter from "Nershe"? And what will happen now that Syamo's target has been allerted to his coming? Find out all that and more coming up!**

**Hm...if you rearrange the letters in "Nershe" you get...wait a minute...**

**Okay, a few things. Those of you who've read my other stories know two things. One, I like to give little trivia pertaining to concepts in the stories and old versions called "TrainerNaps Trivia". And two, I am obsessed with the game series Mass Effect. So, here's the first batch for this story. I'll be resetting the counter for every new story I do.**

**TrainerNaps Trivia:**

**#1: The berry drink featured in this chapter, ****_gaisras, _****is based of of the Krogan beverage ****_ryncol _****from Mass Effect. The concept is similar: it is poured, light on fire, put out, and then drank.**

**#2: Gaisras is Lithuanian for "fire."**

**#3: Jedore is the name of a member of the Blue Suns mercenary group in Mass Effect 2(See, toldja I was obsessed)**

**Just like I am with Star Wars, a scene of which I parodied in this chapter. If you know it, you'll have picked it out.**

**Okay, OC Submission I promised. Mind you, this one isn't as open as last time, but I'd appreciate if you submitted. Keeping in mind those who might not have an account and cannot PM me, I'd appreciate they be in a review, so I don't have to hunt through my mailbox AND my reviews for OCs like I do now.**

**I need members of the Bug-Type Rebellion! **

**So, this will go on for probably a few chapters. I'd also appreciate if you used the form below. It makes things easier for me so I can provide more content for you guys! :)**

**So, review, favorite, submit, whatever! I'll see you next Friday**

**Rebellion OC Form**

**Name:**

**Species: ****Must be Bug-Type**

**Gender:**** With Bugs, you've gotta specify, right?**

**Personality/Description:**** Sehren is missing a wing and the mysterious leader is missing an eye, so be descriptive of your OC**

**Brief History:**** Reason for joining rebellion, etc.**

**Job/Specialization in Rebellion:**** What are they mainly tasked with? The position of leader is already filled by Red-Eye, thank you.**

**Moves:**

**Clothing:**


	11. Chapter 11: Casting Call

**Last time on Explorers of Destiny:**

**Team Elemental, lead by Stilio the Treeko, made their way to an establishment owned by the crime boss Lancelot the Weavile. Escorted by a flippant information broker, a Shuppet named Erin, the outsiders provoke a bar fight, which was broken up by Lancelot. He inquired why they came and they claimed to be sent by a mysterious Pokemon named Nershe, who had a business proposal. They give Lancelot a letter and then depart just as Finn and Carol arrive and spin the tale of their defeat at the hands of Syamo to their boss, Lancelot. Finn uncovered that the bounty hunter's next target is a bandit leader named Jedore whom is then forewarned via Murkrow by Lancelot. Meanwhile, Team MAX plans for their first mission: rescuing a distressed Nidoran from a place called Rocky Ruins along with Team Dazzle, who claim to have been repulsed several times in that very dungeon. How will this play out? Find out now!**

**This weeks chapter will feature OCs from Amerath's Destiny (I hope I spelled that right) and . Thank's guys!**

* * *

Rumor: the whitewashed marble streets of Crown City gleamed in the sunlight.

Fact: They did not, but that did not change the fact that had the elegantly carved stones of the great citadel been forged when the Earth was but a smoldering mass of lava in space, it would easily top the list of the "Natural Wonders of the World."

Crown City got its name from several factors. One was that in the Palace, where resided the Duke of Crown City, a marvelous stone diadem hung above the Throne Room tipped with a diamond like no other.

The second more crude reason was the shape of the city itself. The great ports of Crown City, known as the "Mill Wide Marina" gave the west end a great U shape. From there east went the several miles of beautiful chalk-white buildings, and to the far east of the city sat the Palace, its highest pinnacle piercing the sky.

From the air several Pokémon claimed that the finished product looked like a tiara, and thus Crown City was official born.

Because let's face it: Tiara Town sounds stupid.

Crown City was at all times a bustling hub of civilization. Pokémon of all shapes and sizes crowded its streets day and night, trading, talking, playing, buying, selling, and in extreme cases, fighting.

A local joke was in rotation of how even an Exploud could not stand the racket of his neighbors and left.

On the subject, "local" would be a much exaggerated term. The joke was "local" to the neighborhood in Crown City it spawned from. Information flow in Crown City worked in one of two ways: it was important enough to spread like wildfire in the Drybark Woods, or it was drowned out almost immediately by all the other noise.

Crown City's sprawling metropolis was hands down the most impressive and virtuous out of the three major city-states on Poképangea, the other two being Quarrysville and Canopia (four if you count Falconridge).

Many a guild, whether it be trading or Exploring set up shop here, hoping the endlessly diverse amount of Pokémon would boost them to success. But the largest presence by far in Crown City was the Federation, whose de facto HQ resided here.

This is what brought the young Sewaddle here today.

"Please!" she pleaded with the two guards, a Hitmonlee and a Hitmonchan. "You have to let me speak with the Knight Commander! I'm begging you!"

"I am sorry, little girl," said the Hitmonlee, "But you cannot just drop in unannounced. You must make an appointment ahead of time."

The Sewaddle sniffled and straightened her torn ribbon. "How long would it take to get me a meeting?"

The Hitmonlee conferred with his schedule. "Three months. That is, if these three finalize their cancelations…"

She nibbled nervously on her chin as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Please…my home…these crazy marauders are about to attack my home!"

The Hitmonchan shook his head. "You're not taking the hint, are you?" He bent down so that he was on one knee and said in a very condescending tone, "Listen little girl, the adults inside are very busy! So why not go home and ask mommy for help, okay?"

"Very busy, huh? Busy enough that they can't accept one tiny assignment?"

The Hitmonchan looked around the Sewaddle and jumped. Approaching was two Pokémon. One was a tall raptor Pokémon, scaled green with blade like claws coming off of his forearms. Yellow bulbs ran down his back, and he led the way for a long bush-like tail. He wore a black scarf around his neck with an image of a leaf on the front.

His companion was a lion like Pokémon, with a long snaky tail ending in a star. He had blue-black fur and large ears, but his skin (instead of the light blue which served as the norm for his people) his was yellow. Hard to discern from his fur was a black scarf of his own, though this one had a lightning bolt on it.

A shiny Pokémon. Nearly as one-of-a-kind as Legendary Pokémon themselves.

The Hitmonchan nervously licked his lips and scratched at the back of his head. "Z-zero! I thought you were-"

"Finished," the Luxray put simply, removing a flyer from the bag that hung over his shoulder, crumpling it into a ball and swatting it with his tail at the Hitmonchan. He jostled it awkwardly before finally catching it, and unraveling the parchment to see bounty information on a Houndoom. "Hasslin' Hal is behind bars where he belongs."

"G-good work!" stammered the Hitmonchan, nervous in the face of the reputable Exploration Team. "N-now like I was-"

The Sceptile, Zero, cut him off. Not by talking but by simply ignoring what he had to say. He took a knee in front of the young Sewaddle.

"You alright there, sweetie?" he asked, placing a clawed finger under her chin to lift her head up. "Don't let the big bad guards get you down."

The Luxray, Reezu, nodded. He wasn't much for smiling but he made an honest attempt for the little girl. "That's right. Team Green Thunder at your service."

She sniffled again, using her tattered ribbon as a handkerchief of sorts. "Th-thanks. I came here because a group of very bad people are about to attack my home, the Gentle Meadow."

"Isn't that right by Steamy Jungle?" asked Reezu. She nodded and continued.

"The men in my village aren't nearly strong enough to fight of an invasion of raiders like that. We need the help of big strong adventurers like you."

Zero beamed and stood up, his head blocking out the sun in the little Bug-Type's view and casting a heroic shadow on Zero's face. "Don't worry, little girl. We'll go get em for you!"

"You will!?" she shrieked, her eyes shimmering like a wet diamond. She skittered forward and began to zip up and down Zero's body like only a But-Type could. "Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouTHANKYOU!" 

The leader of Team Green Thunder couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably. "Hey, cut that out, I-ahahahaha!" he stepped back and forth, squirming as the Sewaddle's little legs tickled him relentlessly.

The Hitmonlee rolled his eyes. _And to think they're heroes to some children…_

Even Reezu shook his head as he watched what his teammate. He sighed. _Sometimes I am just at a loss for words…_

Zero finally managed to grab the Sewaddle and held her out before him, both laughing. "By the way, what's your name, sweetie?"

"Trixie," she chirped, "But my friends call me Trix."

Reezu padded up beside Zero. "So I guess that settles it. We've got a mission."

"Team Green Thunder has a mission and we don't?" came a joking voice from behind them. "We'll have to fix that ASAP!"

Walking up the cobblestone street behind them was a threesome of Pokémon. The first was a spikey yellow dog Pokémon with a white fur collar around his neck, block partially by the red scarf tied around it. A pair of racing goggles nestled between the Jolteon's ears.

Next to him was a stout, squat cat Pokémon, her ringed tail serving as a natural girdle for the natural bulk of her people. The Purugly too had a red scarf.

Finally was a Swellow, a proud red and black crested bird who hopped on the ground next to his teammates and contributing to their red scarf fad.

"Well, you're welcome to come with us on ours," said Zero in a friendly tone of voice, the newcomers brining a sly grin to his face. Team Valor were old acquaintances. He looked back to Trix. "That is, I you're taking everyone you can get."

Trix nodded and beamed. "Yup! Definitely the more the merrier!"

"But don't worry," chimed Reezu. "These aren't just any Pokémon. You're looking at the legendary Team Valor. They never turn down a Pokémon in need."

"Especially a lady," said Flick, the Swellow, winking at Trix and making a clicking noise with his teeth.

Trix's eyes darted from Team Green Thunder to Team Valor nervously. "Uh…I think you're a little too old for me…"

Everyone save for Reezu broke into laughter at the youngster's wit. Glenda(otherwise known a Beauty) the Purugly nudged Flick. "Well, you _are _a Flying-Type. It was inevitable that you'd get shot down eventually."

Blitz, the Jolteon, snorted at the joke. "Are you forgetting all those other times?"

"Good point," said Glenda with a nod. The Purugly rolled her shoulders and yawned. "Well, I was planning on getting some sleep, but it looks like we have another job. So we might as well get going and make as much progress as we can before the sun sets."

"Agreed," said Zero, looking down at his feet as Trix skittered up next to him and pulled out a map with her mouth. Zero bent down to pick it up.

"I made this map to help anyone who'd agree to help," she said as Zero and Reezu studied it. "It's the quickest way to my village."

Reezu nodded, taking the map and putting it inside his own bag. "Much appreciated."

"Will you be coming back with us?" asked Beauty, but Trix shook her head.

"No, I'm too weak to travel that path. Plus I'd just slow you down…"

Flick hopped a bit closer to her. "Perhaps you could stay in town until this all blows over?" he suggested, but Trix shook her head again.

"I spent all my money getting here," she said shakily, seeming on the verge of tears. Without missing a beat Flick had produced a sizeable sack of Poké.

"Here," he said, nudging it forward. "This should get you food and decent lodging for a few days. Find Wigglytuff's Inn and mention Team Valor; she'll give you a discount."

Trix grabbed the knot atop the bag and heaved, the weight of all the coin weighing it down. "Th-thank you very much! Good luck!"

She began to backpedal, dragging the bag along with her. Teams Green Thunder and Valor watched her for a moment before Reezu returned them to the task at hand. "Well, let's get a move on. We've got a village to save."

And with that the five Pokémon began to make their way for the city limits for the long journey to Gentle Meadow.

Trix peeked around her sack of cash to make sure that they were truly leaving. They seemed to be in avid conversation, so she took her chance, dragging the coins into a dark alley.

After passing several trash cans and going down several corners, the dragging sounds produced by her bag were noticed by a Yanmega who was playing a solitary card game against himself.

"Back already?" he buzzed in a deep brutish voice. His wings beat on a reflex, scattering his cards. "Dang it…" he whined as he looked over his shoulder. "Third time that happened…"

"Quick your driveling, moron!" snapped Trix, her innocent tone melting with acid. "I've got the job done. Now let's go home, Tag."

Tag studied Trix and the bag several hundred times at the same time with his paneled eyes. "Looks like a nice grab. How'd you weasel that out of them?"

Trix snickered. "I used the 'I Used Up All Of My Money To Get Here' bit. Right after they accepted my 'mission,' of course."

"And they bought it?"

"Like a discount Reviver Seed." Trix skittered around to Tag's side dragging the bag of money. She plopped it on his back, and the Yanmega temporarily buckled under the weight he had not prepared for.

"Yeesh…" he groaned as Trix hopped on herself. "What did they pay you in…mineral ore or actual Poké?"

The hardened exoskeleton of Tag's body reduced the tickle of Trix's legs down to a mere rubbing sensation. She reached his shoulders, allowing the right half of his paneled eye to see her. "Better start working out, Tag. There'll be plenty more to come. After all, Sehren did say he'd give us a bonus based on the rank of any Team or Teams we got."

"And?"

"Platinum. Both of them."

Tag raised an arm, and Trix leapt up and slapped it with her own. "Trix, I freakin' love you sometimes."

His wings began to beat furiously, lifting a grey cloud of dust and summoning forth the sound of a small swarm of approaching Combee. They took off, heading in the same direction as the two teams.

…

The robust beauty of Quarrysville and the rolling hills ahead of it were true sights to behold, but Josh had to admit that so far on his journey in the Pokémon world, Yellow Forest took the cake.

The woodland was shrouded in eternal autumn with the leaves on all of the trees a bright yellow, quite like a banana.

Warm breezes would occasionally roll through the woods, tickling the branches and wave to the travelers on the path.

Amber was equally as awestruck despite the fact that she had lived in a forest her entire life. The radiant colors simply blended into a beautiful and natural work of art.

Mo wasn't a very artistic person; he didn't find the sort of pleasure that the others did in this visual. But he had to admit that being a Grass-Type, there was a homey feeling like no other her got from a quiet, tranquil forest.

Team Dazzle had been astounded. The first few times. But as the frequency of their visits increased, seeing the brightly colored foliage was just going through the motions.

"Are we almost there?" Amber chirped to Jake as the company moved on.

"Huh?" said the Vanillite, who had been lost in thought. "Oh. Well, I just saw that bush, so…we should it shouldn't be more than another half mile."

Mo scrunched up his nose and looked at Jake haughtily. "How can you be using landmarks here? Everything looks the same."

"Yeah, we've kinda had to go through this area a lot…" moaned Jake looking down at the ground to hide his shame.

The older members of the party managed to enjoy the value of the silence a little bit more that Amber. It simply wore away at her after a while, so the Torchic hopped over to Amy to try and spark a conversation.

"So, Amy," she chirped happily. Amy looked to the other Fire-Type so that she wouldn't come off as rude for not looking her in the eyes.

"Yes, Amber?"

"Why do you wear that bandage all the time?"

Amy shivered and stopped dead. Amber was of course referring to the stark white papyrus wrapped tightly around Amy's right foreleg. Beneath it lie hidden a nasty scar which Amy was not only embarrassed of but kept wrapped up in fear that it would one day reopen.

Jake had been unaware that she stopped and bumped into her. Also contributing to his absentmindedness was the sheer fact that Amber had asked that question in the first place.

_Man, she really is innocent…_Jake gulped and tried to answer. "Well…heh, you see…"

He looked up suddenly and breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, look, we're here!" Not wasting a second he took off towards what appeared to be a dilapidated stone temple. Pillars lined the stone walkway; some had missing chunks and some had been halved completely, leaving stone stumps.

The brown-orange walkway was cracked and covered in moss. Approaching from the hill, the temple appeared to be partially sunken in, and the entrance was not visible to Josh.

Teams MAX and Dazzle walked warily down the path, gazes sweeping around to keep a keen eye for ambushers.

Jake and Amy stopped at where the stone path ended and Team MAX slowly fell in behind them. Since they had been sweeping the area their back had been to the temple at first, and were taken by surprise when they turned around.

The Temple truly had sunken in and lay at the bottom of short rocky slope. Its once proud and ornate façade had looked like it had taken a Focus Punch from a giant fist; the walls were crumbling and folding in onto a giant pile of rubble.

Said pile had not one, not two, but three tunnels burrowing inside of it.

"Lemmie guess," said Mo, tapping his chin. "This is what gave you trouble?"

Amy nodded and walked a bit ahead of him, sitting down at the base of the slope. "True to dungeon fashion, these tunnels change every time, so we can't map them. In fact, we have no idea which one leads to the end chamber."

"And that's just the thing," added Jake, who seemed to have turned whiter (if that is even possible for a Vanillite). "Every time we came, there were only two tunnels. We think the dungeon is trying to trick us."

"Did you ever try splitting up? You know, to see which one if any reached the end?" asked Josh.

"Once," replied Amy, scratching her bandage with her other foreleg. She bowed her head as she recalled a most gruesome memory. "We can barely handle the Ferals in there together. Alone…"

Jake gulped as he remembered too. "No pun intended, we got creamed."

"Well, I still don't-" Josh snapped his fingers and smiled, pointing at Jake. "Oh, _I get it_! It's because you're a-ow!" Mo flicked him on the head with a leafy arm.

"Focus!" snapped Mo as he brushed past Amy and began to study the temple. "I assume that the dungeon split into two paths to confuse you while there were only two of you…" The palm of his right hand face upwards as his arms balanced on his hip, "…but together we total five."

"Could it be Team based?" asked Amber, tilting her head to the side.

Mo shook his own head. "There are two Teams total."

"You observations are not as keen as you perceive, _signor_."

Everyone looked up to one of the stone pillars, where silhouetted against the sky stood a humanoid figure, cape billowing in the breeze. It leapt down and revealed that the "cape was actually part of its body.

He was lithe and slender in build, but his voice came off as masculine. He stepped out of the shadow cast by the pillar to reveal more features.

He had a cotton-like tuft atop his head, and a red and blue bouquet of flowers for hands. His face was a splash of dark green and light green, giving the illusion of a mask. He also sported a pencil moustache.

"Hello, my friends," he said in a flowing foreign tone. "My name, it is Ricardio."

In a green flash he was a good ten feet away from where he had been, standing atop a pillar stump with both knees bent, head facing down, and arms crossed. "Conqueror of Dungeons."

Yet another green flash, and he was somehow back atop the pillar. He wasn't exactly sure why, but Josh kinda liked this guy.

"Holder of Many Treasures."

With a spin of his cape he was once again gone. Out of her peripheral vision Amy saw green, and shrieked and jumped forward. Ricardio rolled his head.

"Champion of Love. I am-a Ricardio, master Explorer!" He began to bow and blow kisses.

Mo leaned over to Amber and whispered into her ear. "This guys' a nut…"

"I think he's funny," giggled Amber.

Jake had been irritated enough that he'd have to share his treasure, albeit with friends who shared a common goal. But this joker was the last straw.

"Hey, buddy!" he yelled, doing his best to seem intimidating (which was quite a daunting task for an ice-cream cone Pokémon). "Why are you here!?"

Ricardio leaned up against a pillar. "Like you, I have a goal in sight."

"You knew about the treasure?" asked Amy disappointedly.

Ricardio flashed a smile, his pearly whites gleaming. "I do now."

If Jake had a hat (and long enough arms) he would've thrown it on the ground. "Darn it!"

"Sorry," whispered Amy as she buried her face in her paws. "Me and my big mouth…"

The Roserade chuckled before standing back up and swaggering about in a circle. "I had just-a finished a bounty and was on my way back to Quarrysville. I decided to take-a the scenic route and enjoy the lovely sights of-a the Yellow Forest. It was the place of-a my birth, you know?"

He sighed and his elbows relaxed as he took a trip down memory lane. Mo cleared his throat and tapped his foot. "Skip it."

"Yes, of course. Anyway, I was proceeding through the forest when suddenly, I overheard a cry for help. I came as fast as I could to this place, where inside a distressed little girl awaits rescue."

Josh nodded and took out the request that the Nidoran had given them. "That's why we're here."

"Of course," said Ricardio, who turned to study the temple. "I have no intention of trying to a-steal any glory or fortune. The life of the unfortunate girl is all that matters. I will aid in any way possible, but you will be allowed to keep the reward, as well as the treasure."

He paused and tapped his chin with one of his hands. "But…I ask only one favor from you."

"Ask away!" Jake spat eagerly. The chance to get help and not have to worry about greedy hands was a chance he didn't want to pass up.

"You must let-a me take-a my pick of one treasure from the trove at the end of this labyrinth," he said in that soft yet deep tone of his. "I will not be greedy. I only ask to pick one thing."

Josh shrugged and consulted Team Dazzle. "That seems fair. Wouldn't you say?"

Jake and Amy looked at each other, neither completely enthusiastic but sure what they had to do. Jake sighed. "Sure, you've got a deal…"

Ricardio smiled and nodded, clasping his hands behind his back as he proceeded towards the crumbled edifice serving as the temple's entrance. "If we wish to save the poor little girl before it is-a too late, I suggest we go now."

Jake followed with sunken eyes and grumbling under his breath. Amy backed up hear teammate while Josh just shrugged at his, and they followed.

"Eehehehehe! You're _really _going back in there, aren't you?"

Josh flipped around to see an impish Pachirisu hanging from a branch by its tail. She chuckled as all of the rest of the group turned to meet her gaze as well.

"I mean, don't let me stop you. You guys getting creamed in that dungeon is really the only entertainment around here!" she chortled, swinging up onto the branch.

"Oh great," said Amy rolling her eyes, "_You!_"

"I'm guessing you two are acquainted?" inferred Josh, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. Jake nodded.

"We know her more than we'd like, and meet her less than we'd hope." She once again snickered and scurried to the edge of the branch.

In a motherly fashion she put one paw on her hip and waved another disapprovingly. "Is that how you treat the people who save your life?"

"If that is so, I'm beginning to reconsider this little trip?" said Mo as he tapped his foot and looked expectantly at Jake.

Jake laughed sheepishly and blushed. "Well, I guess _someone _has to be dragging us out of the dungeon each time…"

The Pachirisu beamed and bowed, and then added, "And that of course is ol' Didi!" She curled her tail around the branch and went back to her upside down state.

Mo rolled his eyes and turned back to the dungeon, taking Amber with him. Josh hesitated for a second and called back up to Didi. "Hey, does that mean you know how to navigate this dungeon?"

Didi raised an eyebrow and dropped down, making her way over to Josh. She studied him like some sort of ancient artifact. "You're for real? You're actually serious about getting all the way through?"

Josh nodded, and was sorely let down when Didi flopped on her back and began rolling with laughter. "That's _rich_! Tell the monster at the end I said 'What's up!' Ahahahahahaha!"

The Squirtle growled and turned away from the flippant Squirrel Pokémon. He put an arm around Amber and began leading her towards the Rocky Ruins. "C'mon. Let's get going."

Amber shook and gulped. "D-did she say m-monster?"

…...

"Amber, Geodude on your six!"

"What!?" cried the confused Torchic as Mo's instructions. _Idiot! _he thought as she turned her full attention away from the battle to consult him.

_WHOOM_! The Geodude knocked her smack into the rocky wall, sending down a shower of dirt and small pebbles. Team MAX had been entrenched in the narrow tunnel. It was composed of loose rocks and soil. Weeds hung down from the ceiling, and Mo inferred the whole "ruins" part of the Rocky Ruins had long passed.

The Geodude raised its fists to crush Amber. She shrieked as there was nothing she could do, but her cries were drowned out by the gusher of pressurized water sent forth from Josh's mouth.

"Thanks," she said breathlessly as he helped her up.

He opened his mouth to respond, but instead jumped into the air and cried, "Tail Whip!" slamming his curled tail into the face of a Ratticate.

"Mo!" he yelled back at Team MAX's unofficial leader, "There's a time and place for strategy, but now is neither!"

The Snivy's face contorted in rage at his proposition. Was he implying that Mo was being useless?! "Without strategy we're doomed!" he snapped back, just as he heard noise behind him.

"Leaf Blade!" he yelled as he slashed a Graveler in the face with his glowing tail. The heat generated by the friction was enough to keep the wound glowing for several second after the attack.

With a gloating grin on his face he returned his attention to Josh. "See, how about-"

The human-turned-Squirtle was looking in the entire opposite direction, launching Water Guns at oncoming attackers.

Josh then stopped, and Mo could here water droplets coming down from the exhausted Squirtle's face. "We…I think that's it for now…"

He smiled satisfactorily being glad that it was over and stumbled towards his team. Expecting celebration that they had won he was instead met with a sharp glare from Mo.

"What was that you said about strategy?" he snapped. Josh lifted his hands up.

"Hey, I was just saying that when it's raining bad guys, we shouldn't be standing around barking orders!"

Mo took exception to that. "_Barking _orders? Is that all I am? Just some drill sergeant who wastes his breath on half-hearted ideas and not fighting!? This isn't my first rodeo, human, and you've only been in this world for _three days!_ So-"

Amber shied away, hating the conflict between her friends. As she backed up she tripped on a rock poking out of the ground, and her eyes temporarily flitted to the side.

She peeked around the corner to investigate her findings. Amber smiled as she did and took in a sharp breath and yelled, "Guys, guys, look! I can see light, we're almost out!"

The boys stopped arguing to investigate the validity of her claims. And sure enough, further down the tunnel was a blanket of white.

Team MAX took off, eager to get out of the cramped space. As they ran Josh turned to Mo. "Hey, dude, this doesn't seem right."

"Why not?" Mo came back with. "We've gotten this mission over with in quite an efficient amount of time…"

Josh shook his head as they sprinted. "No, I mean Team Dazzle said this place was pretty mean…do you think it had something to do with the tunnels?"

It took Mo a moment to realize what he meant, but once he did his gears began to turn and it made sense. "Yeah…if Team Dazzle split up…well, not many people can take Ferals alones anyway. If they went through one of two tunnels together, then the Ferals inside could bottle them in and just funnel through. But now, there are three parties going through three tunnels…"

"So you're saying that the bad Pokémon having to split up is why it didn't take us that long?" huffed Amber as she struggled to talk and keep up with the faster Pokémon. Mo nodded. It was relieving that even the most innocent member of their team could grasp the concept.

"Bingo."

"So do you think that Ricardio and Team Dazzle are having as easy a time as we are?" Amber now asked.

…

"ThisisnotfunthisisnotfunTHISISNOTFUN!" Jake cried rampantly as a Poochyena snapped angrily at him, the only thing separating the two was an icicle spawned by Jake to keep the Poochyena out of the small crevice in which he hid.

Amy peat over a charging Phanpy and blasted it in the rear with a Flamethrower, knocking it out. "Hey, do you think that Ricardio and Team MAX are having as hard a time as we are?"

It was hard for Jake to speak with the razor sharp fangs of the Poochyena snapping in his face. Heck, it was hard to do anything but freak out. But he called back, "They have to be! I doubt they got some sort of Happy Flower Path!"

…

"Such a wonderful flower," sighed Ricardio as he took a whiff, taking his merry time walking down the tunnel covered in various autumn flowers.

…

Team MAX all plopped out of their tunnel and onto the courtyard floor about ten feet below. It was a great square area, covered in cobblestone covered in moss and weeds. Up in the center rose a massive stone pedestal, with four sets of stairs leading up to it.

The three slowly advanced, making absolute sure nothing would pounce out at them. The courtyard seemed to be in some sort of pit in the center of the forest, as yellow trees and bushes lined the tops of the walls that boxed them in.

From where they had come was the back of the temple, and sure enough three holes protruded. There was no sign that Ricardio or Team Dazzle had yet emerged from theirs.

"Okay guys," whispered Mo, tiptoeing backwards and swiveling his head left and right. "The first thing about dungeons is that there's ALWAYS a boss at the end. So keep your eyes out."

"Especially here," whispered Josh, who was doing the same thing as Mo. "It looks to be boxed in, so unless he has wings, he's trapped."

The two boys stopped to compare notes. "Good point," said Mo. "And I'm guessing he doesn't get a lot off food down here, so he might be hungry-"

Amber turned around, and all words were sucked out of her throat as she saw the massive pile of black scales atop the pedestal. She began to shake violently.

"G-guys?"

Josh shook his head, oblivious to Amber's pleas and still in debate with Mo. "But the foliage up there hides the pit. Perhaps the occasional Pokémon falls in…"

"Good point."

Amber gulped as a long snake-like nice uncurled itself from the body. Two red eyes flicked open. "G-guys…"

"And he could also go hunting in those tunnels," suggested Josh, but Mo shook his head.

"Yeah, but they're way too narrow. I mean, we don't know what he looks like yet, but-"

"GUYS!" yelled Amber who had summoned up every last bit of courage to yell like that. Mo and Josh flipped around just in time to see the second head uncurl itself and open its eyes.

The two heads roared, shaking the entire courtyard.

Josh sweatdropped. "Found the boss!"

* * *

**So, we got to meet Team Green Thunder and Team Valor, created by and Amerath's Destiny (respectively). Didi the Obnoxious Pachirisu and Ricardio the Italian Roserade were properties of me.**

**So, the way I'm handling this is little quips from teh adventures of OCs from across the land, which will evolve into chapters dedicated to them as the story and sidestories progress and eventually collide. So stay tuned for yoru OCs to appear and have bigger parts.**

**Speaking of OCs, two things. First, my Bug-Type Rebellion submission is still going, probably for a little longer (see Chapter 10 for form). And if you plan on submitting, think outside the box for their jobs within the Rebellion. A functioning Rebellion has many posts that need filling, so be creative.**

**Also, I'll be presenting my completed forms for Team MAX soon, just for show, so stay tuned and see ya next week!**


	12. Chapter 12: Double Take

**Last time on Explorers of Destiny:**

**Platinum-Ranked Exploration Teams Green Thunder and Valor heard the desperate plea of Trix, a young Sewaddle whose home is apparently soon to come under attack. Little did they know this was an elaborate trap set by Sehren for reasons unknown. Meanwhile, Teams Dazzle and MAX reached the Rocky Ruins and learned its secret: for every present entity, a new tunnel opens. They then met two eccentric new faces: Ricardio the Italian Roserade Explorer, and Didi the Obnoxious Pachirisu. Ricardio pledged to help the two teams, while Didi wanted no part of it. The three parties set off, encountering varying difficulties in their respective tunnels. Team MAX was the first to reach the end, a temple courtyard sunken into the ground. There was no sign of the Nidoran they were sent to rescue, but they did find a Zwelious, the boss of the dungeon. Will they prevail? Find out now!**

**This week's chapter will feature new OCs from Pokekid543, HunterKR, and burningleafship. Enjoy!**

* * *

While the battle was heating up deep in the bowels of the Rocky Ruins, conflict was also stirring back in Quarrysville.

Lucky for the citizens though, it was all under control.

Or so they thought.

Headed down the southern streets of Quarrysville was a large boxy cart, being pulled by a Tauros. At the head were a Sneasel and a Corphish. The Sneasel focused on the cart; the Corphish's eyes on the side of its head swiveling about, keeping an eye out for trouble.

Or possibly expecting it.

The cart behind them was filled to the brim with boxes of berries, wheat, and other greens. A humble service to the bustling city indeed, but a common and necessary one. No one batted an eye to produce being carted in.

The Sneasel's eyes casually panned up and he gasped. "Stop!" he shouted, yanking on the reins. The Tauros stopped dead, the cart bumping into his rear end.

"What's the big idea!?" he yelled back at the Sneasel. The Sharp Claw Pokémon hopped from his seat to the Tauros's thick hide.

"That's what I intend to find out," he growled as he made his way angrily to the front of the Tauros.

Several yards in front of them was an overturned cart. One of its wheels was leaned up against the side, and one figure could be seen bending over the cart and fiddling with another, his body partially obscured from view.

Much to his annoyance, the Tauros's head twitched slightly as the Sneasel hopped onto it. Shaking his fist he yelled, "Hey, fur ball, get outta the road! I've got cargo goin-"

He choked as the Pokémon stood up and showed himself. It was a tall mammalian Pokémon with spikey blue-black fur on its back and stripe of red around the back of his neck. A Typhlosion.

Though that wasn't all that had startled the Sneasel. Around his neck he wore a bandana the logo of a team he was told specifically to watch out for: Team Justice.

Up onto the overturned cart hopped a Meowth looking equally as annoyed. The feline crossed over the wooden planks and then hopped down, joining his companion.

The Sneasel scurried back onto the cart. His Corphish pall began to panic once he reached the driver's bench.

"W-what do we do!?" he stammered, but the Sneasel ran right past him and onto the crates of produce.

"Bail!" he called back. "Lancelot'll kill us if we-"

He skidded to a stop and shrieked again. His heels dug into barriers and sprayed juice everywhere. His body yielded the same results when he landed in a box with a _SPLAT_!

Down from the tree branches shading his cart dropped a Gliscor, hanging upside down with his tail. The small pair of glasses he wore stayed firm do to their tenacious pinching of his nasal ridge.

From behind the tree came a Gardevoir, arms crossed. The Sneasel scrambled to his feet despite being completely surrounded. The second he managed to (after continuously slipping in berry juice) he felt an invisible force close around him and raise him into the air, rendering him helpless.

It had been a trap.

The Sneasel began to whimper. "Please," he pleaded with the Gardevoir, "If you let me go, I'll never do nothin' bad again! I swear, ma'am!"

The Gardevoir's eyes lit up with fire. The upraised fist administering the Confusion attack clenched, bending the Sneasel's appendages at odd angles. He let out a pained scream.

"I'm a guy!" he shouted back. His regular male voice betrayed his feminine appearance, as did his tolerance for people getting it wrong.

The Typhlosion snickered as he rounded the cart, heading for the back. "I wouldn't piss James off if I were you. _Especially _with matter concerning gender."

"Yeah!" squeaked the Meowth. He hopped up onto the cart and shook his fist. "And that's the last time you's try ta steal our treasure, too!"

The Gliscor sighed and facepalmed (or…faceclawed?) and slid down from the branch, landing on his feet at the edge of the cart. "Mars, these felons made no attempt to steal anything from our treasury. We're merely apprehending them for illegal actions."

"Oh…sorry, Philip…" said Mars sheepishly rubbing the back of his head before returning to his angry façade. "Well, they was probably gonna do it anyways!"

Up in the air the Sneasel was still whimpering and twitching. "Y-you've proved nothing! This is unlawful detainment, and I'll-"

"You'll cooperate and you won't get hurt!" interjected the Typhlosion now at the back of the cart. He picked up a crate of Oran Berries and tossed them out, which elicited a whimper from the Sneasel.

"You tell em, Matt!" cheered Mars. Out of his peripheral vision he caught the Corphish trying to sneak quietly away, he and flipped around. "Hey, get back here ya pathetic little mud crab!" he shouted and gave chase.

Philip sighed and hopped down into the cart, the space cleared by Matt allowing him to stand there. "Well, that certainly simplifies things. What exactly are we looking for?"

"Well," said Matt, stopping to heave another crate over her shoulder and grunt. "I hope to find a-bingo!"

His paw rested on a round metal rung, hinged to the bed of the cart. Using his large tail Philip cleared off the remaining boxes that covered the secret hatch, and Matt heaved it open.

Matt rested his paws on the truck and gazed into the hatch. "Well, well, well," he said and looked up at the Sneasel, who gulped. "What have we here?"

"Y-you're makin' a huge mistake!" stuttered the Sneasel. There was a crunch and he screamed again as James tightened the Confusion.

"No, I believe you did," he chided, "It was called _speaking_."

Philip peered into the hatch. "What have we here?"

"Looks like a pirates bounty worth of contraband weapons and supplies," said Matt. He began to take inventory on the illegal stockpile. "Looks like we've got some Vile Seeds, Bleeder Roots, Doom Seeds, a whole lot of cash, Spike Orbs, Vacuum Orbs…"

Philip let out an impressed coo. "Vacuum Orbs? I've heard of those." He began to gesture with his claws like something was being removed from his mouth. "They create a centralized vortex of air the sucks your breath right out of you."

James stared hard at the Sneasel. "Now why would an innocent Samaritan like yourself be carrying some of the deadliest weapons on the continent?"

"I-It's not what you think!" he squeaked. "I can-"

"You can shut up, is what you can do!" commanded Matt. He hefted a large sack of Poké out of the cart and slammed it down. He stared daggers at the Sneasel and began to point his forefinger like a sword.

"We know your boss is dirty, and we're gonna prove it! We're gonna use this money," he picked the bag up and slammed it down again, "_His _money to pay off every snitch in town; anyone who can dig up dirt on Lancelot."

Matt grinned and leaned up against the cart casually. He patted the sack. "We'll call it the _Lancelot Retirement Fund_."

"He can be let down," interrupted a deep, commanding voice. Indeed it was, because as James, Philip, and Matt all turned they came face-to-face with Commander Bishop, a Bisharp from the Quarrysville Police Force. He was flanked by two Frillish officers.

James hesitated for a moment, but Bishop nodded to the Gardevoir. He sighed and released the Sneasel. Overjoyed by his release, the Sneasel didn't pick up on the fact that he was falling until he landed in a crate of berries with a _SPLAT!_

"What is the meaning of this?" the Commander asked formally, hands clasped behind his back. His officers moved to secure the secret hatch and re-cover it with the boxes.

"We caught these two smuggling contraband weaponry and armaments into the city," answered Philip with the respect due to an officer of the police, but with a little acid in his voice. "We acted as any Exploration Team with their Oath in mind an apprehended them.

Bishop sighed. "I guess then you cannot be blamed." He looked at the Sneasel. "You. Go fetch your companion. You will be escorted by my men to your employer."

He nodded and scurried back to the front of the cart. Team Justice spitefully watched him get away scot free.

"Commander Bishop, permission to speak out of term?" asked James angrily. The Commander thought for a moment, and then nodded.

"Granted."

"You're an idiot."

James was rewarded with a clonk on the head from Philip. The Gliscor pinched his head with a claw and spun him around. "Fool!" he hissed into James' face, "Do you really want to put us on bad terms with the law!?"

Bishop shook his head and rested a metal hand on James' shoulder. "No. I understand your friend's disposition." He backed up and gestured down the road.

"Now come. We can discuss this in my office."

…

It was no question whether or not each individual member of Team Justice loathed Commander Bishop for depriving them of their capture, but Matt managed to cajole his teammates to listen to whatever explanation Bishop had for them.

Vindictively watching the cart go on its merry way, Team Justice shadowed Commander Bishop to the Police Station, a structure that looked more like a small fortress than an office. It was in the Town Square right next to Town Hall, which made sense.

Bishop took them through the lobby and past the door leading down to the holding cells. Team Justice could hear a noxious din of sound coming from the hall, from snarls to the sound of claws scraping metal, and the occasional complaint from a detainee about not getting their one letter.

Frillish officers, spears in hand, swarmed the building like Durant in their colony. It was a safe bet to say that every other Pokémon in this building, if not more, were Frillish.

And despite them being the majority of the officers present, Justice spotted several others. A Charizard, a Grotle, an Electabuzz, and even a Purrloin wore the badge.

Finally at the end of a long hallway was a door that read, "Police Commander Bishop." Standing guard over the door were two Frillish. Bishop nodded, and they nodded back, moving out of the way so that the five could make their way through.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable," said Bishop as he made his was behind a large mahogany desk. It was covered in neat stacks of paperwork. At the top right corner of the desk was a vial of ink, and several quills next to it in a mug labeled "#1 Dad."

"You have children?" inquired Philip as he hopped up on top of one of the two chairs in front of the desk, curling his tail around it. This allowed Mars to sit on the chair itself comfortably.

Bishop nodded and picked up a small framed portrait. In it was a tall and broad Bisharp, obviously him, standing next to a shorter and slenderer one, presumably his wife. In front of them were three Pawniard.

Matt surveyed the rest of the room. Against each wall was a shelf containing books and old keepsakes from Bishop's career: broken weapons, used orbs, and smaller treasures undoubtedly holding sentimental value greater than their fetch price.

Decorating the walls were framed newspapers broadcasting Bishop's past exploits. The array contained titles such as, "Bishop Slices Smuggling Ring" and "Selfdestruct Situation Defused by Bishop and Posse."

"Now," said Bishop, calmly folding his hands on the desk, "What questions of yours can I answer?"

"How about why did you let Lancelot's goons go!?" hissed James. The Gardevoir slammed his fists down on the desk making the ink bottle shake. Although James stared daggers at him, the Bisharp retained the stoic composure he was famous for, and was definitely a godsend in his line of work. Plenty of angry customers, so to speak.

Bishop drew in a breath and exhaled. "You noticed that all of the weapons hidden in the cart were contraband, no? Banned by the treaties signed at Blue Oasis?"

"Indeed," said Phillip, "Usage of such weapons is on par with mass murder in the eyes of most courts. Heck, if they _all _had been used it would probably border on a war crime."

"He is correct," said Bishop, but that went without saying. Philip was a walking (sometimes gliding) encyclopedia. His entire childhood all he had done was read. Read and gorge on intelligence boosting gummies.

And that had turned him into the incredible library of a Pokémon that he was. What had driven more than a few Exploration Teams to try and convince him to join their own ranks.

All of the offers had been tempting in one way or another, but Philip never abandoned his old comrades. It simply didn't work that way.

"I still don't get what you're saying, Commander," said Matt with a shrug, "Why let Lancelot's illegal activates just slide like that? He's bad; not as bad as some, but bad. Laws have to be observed even if no one is getting hurt."

"I understand that," said Bishop. He rested his chin on his cupped hands and stared Matt in the eyes. "I am no Doomsday preacher, that is for certain. I am also not a pessimist; I am an officer on of the police. Unfortunately my job is to _always _be on the lookout for trouble. To expect it."

Bishop stood and turned around. He stared out his window at the harbor, hands clasped behind his back. "But now I can all but guarantee it. War is a storm on the horizon, and I must be ready to whether it. For the citizens of this town, I can and will do anything."

"Like use illegal weapons?" growled James. The Gardevoir had sunk back in the chair. Bishop half turned his head so that one eye was visible.

"I have made a deal with Lancelot. I know as champions of justice we must be better than our opponents; not lowering ourselves to their lows and not killing."

His gaze drifted fully back to the horizon and he was silent for a moment.

"But there is no justice in war," he continued sullenly. His voice wavered like an echo through a metal pipe. "You cannot try to be better on the battlefield: you must do whatever it takes to be the best. And that is why I am keeping these grievous weapons in reserve.

"The oath I swore when I became a police officer is a contradiction in and of itself. In one part is says I must do whatever it takes to protect the innocent, and in another it details the things I cannot do to remain honorable and just."

Bishop began to move back to his desk, shaking his head. He slowly pulled out his chair and sat back down, partially hanging his head.

"But I will honor the former before the latter." He now brought his eyes to bear on Team Justice. Blue fire burned within them, creating an inferno of true determination like had never been seen by Team Justice before. "I will do _anything _so that the children in the street can play another day. So that families can sit down at their tables, say grace, and eat together."

His metal palm face the ceiling as he lost himself in a temporary dream, staring up and fantasizing. "So that my wife can tuck my children in at night and tell them stories. Then she can kiss them on the head and rest herself."

_How truly noble, _thought Matt.

_A Pokémon with his morals in order, _thought Philip.

_Still kinda mad, but he has a point, _thought James.

_Bisharps have lips? _Thought Mars.

"I hear what you're saying, but…" Matt put a paw on his head and shook it confusedly. "What when Lancelot uses these weapons to hurt innocent people and cause mayhem? What then?"

"Then he will be thoroughly punished threefold: for breaking the law, for endangering my city, and for breaking his word," said Bishop firmly, folding his hands. They came down on the table with a _CLANK!_

"I'm still coming to grips with the 'impending doom' situation," said Philip dryly as if chastising the lesser minds for going off an a tangent.

"Villages living in perpetual terror of raids in the mountains of the north, blockades and scrimmages in the rivers of the south, Sehren's army making unfathomable gains to the east…" Bishop went on like he was pitching common knowledge. "Were being enclosed on all sides. It won't be long until something snaps us up."

Philip scoffed and adjusted his glasses. "Or P-Rep does. They just adore our petty struggles over here on Poképangea. I'll bet Mayor Limus has a meeting scheduled with an ambassador this afternoon."

Bishop grunted, acknowledging the joke. "Tomorrow, as a matter of fact." P-Rep was slang for the Pokémon Republic, the ruling force the governed the continent to the west of Poképangea, Paellucida.

P-Rep desperately wanted a foothold on Poképangea. Their colonies had all either been denied because of local rights, had been destroyed, or had plain dropped off the map. P-Rep ambassadors constantly showed up, trying to convince city leaders that there was a better tomorrow sitting in the lap of P-Rep, and all they had to do was sign up.

But none of the city-states large enough for P-Rep to care about showed any interest in joining Pokémon Republic Congress, and had forced that point for nearly seventy five years. Yet the ambassadors still kept coming.

"When will they just quit already?" sighed James, kicking back in his chair.

"They probably just want our treasure!" shouted Mars. The Meowth hopped up onto the desk and shook his fist. Bishop simply stared at him for a second, not amused.

"In any case," he sighed, picking up a stack of papers and shuffling them against the surface of the desk to better align them, "Unless you have any further questions, I do believe-"

The entire building suddenly shook, knocking things off of shelves and portraits off of walls. Matt and James stumbled to keep their balance while Philip hopped off of his chair entirely, gliding out the tremor.

"Who!" cried Mars, arms whirling and trying to regain his balance. His foot knocked over the vial of ink, spilling it all over the ground.

The tremors suddenly stopped. The ringing and such sounds of small objects clattering to a stop echoed all around. Screams could be heard from outside.

"How much you wanna bet that was our old Weavile pal?" Matt asked Bishop with an angry grin. Bishop brushed some ink off of his iron skin.

"Double what you found in the cart."

…

The left Zwelious head licked his lips as his neck swayed from side to side like a serpent. "Mm, Para, did you order takeout?" His voice was scratchy and high pitched.

"Hm, can't say I did, Dox," the right responded with a voice equally as scratchy, but in a slightly lower pitch. "But you know the policy they usually have."

The body rolled its front shoulders to stretch. Then it began to slowly waddle down the stairs. Mo clenched his fists and entered a ready stance, tail up and legs spread.

"Mm, what policy would that be, Para?" squealed the Dox, the left head. They were about one quarter down the stairs.

Para licked his lips and hissed. "Hm, if you didn't order it, it is free!" By now they were near halfway down the stairs.

Josh clenched his own fists and readied himself. "Mo," he whispered to the Snivy. "_Now _would be a good time for strategy."

Mo nodded spitefully. He knew the Squirtle didn't mean the insult, but the implication that he did not strategize at the right time still remained. But Mo needed a plan nonetheless, and racking his brains wasn't turning up much.

"Okay," he huffed, "It's no operation, but it'll have to work." He licked his dry lips as the swaying form of Para-Dox approached, nearly down the stairs. Their beady read eyes virtually paralyzed Team MAX, and the drool flowing from their jaws didn't help their stomachs, either.

"Here's the plan. Two heads: three of us. Just like the dungeon, we'll have to confuse it." He pointed to Josh and then to Para. "Josh, distract the right head. I'll get the left. Then Amber-"

He pointed to the Y shape that connected their necks to the torso. "-do you know Peck?"

Amber had been shaking this whole time, her feathers waving like leaves in a hurricane. She gulped. "I-I th-think…"

"Good. Once the heads are distracted, attack there with everything you've got! It's their only weak spot due to those scales…" Mo bit his lip. The odds weren't looking so great. Boss Pokémon dwarfed most others in strength, speed, and even intelligence: they were no regular Ferals, that was for sure.

Team MAX felt a sudden chill as twin shadows fell over them: Para-Dox had arrived. Bog breath emanated from their wide, hungry maws.

"This would be so much easier if Team Dazzle and Ricardio were here…" growled Josh, fists clenched, "But we'll have to work with what we've got!"

Mo nodded determinedly. Josh had to note that though he could be somewhat snobbish at times, he got going when the going got tough.

"That's the only state of mind that'll get us out alive." He placed a hand on Amber's shoulder. "Ready?"

She continued shaking…but then gasped in a breath and stopped. _I can't let fear rule me! _She thought to herself.

Briefly, Para's eyes flashed to Sehren's, the day Amber's family was killed. That image had haunted her for so long…

And it wouldn't ever again. Amber spread her legs and puffed two small bursts of flame out of her beak. "Let's go!"

Josh nodded, and then faced down his enemy. His team was finally working as a unit…and it was time to make a difference in this world.

"On three," he said, bending his knees. "One…two…three!"

In a split second, Team MAX was in action. Josh hopped up into the air immediately, not wasting any time in acquiring his target. Or rather, letting it acquire him.

"Ice Punch!" he shouted as he brought his arm up. A thin arctic mist hung over his fist, which he drove into Dox's cheek. He roared as Josh completed his flip and landed on one knee, fist on the ground.

Dox flipped around completely and hissed. "You'll pay for that, Turtle Soup!"

Josh stuck his tongue out and did a raspberry. "You'll have to catch me first!"

Meanwhile, Mo was doing an equally admirable job. His tail glowed and extended in length. He shouted, "Leaf Blade!" and slashed it across Para's face, leaving a searing scar.

"C'mon, you foolish fossil!" jeered Mo, waving his arms. "Can't catch a little Snivy!?"

Para simply snarled and lunged, jaws agape. Little did he know his counterpart was doing the same.

Their necks could only stretch so far forward, and even less to the side. Both heads let out a choking noise and jerked back from their intended course, leaving their chest wide open.

Amber didn't miss a beat. She leapt forward like a missile, beak glowing. Like a spear she stabbed into Para-Dox's leathery chest, causing them to emit a sickening choke.

Once she regained her balance from the attack, Amber gazed at her team's cooperative handiwork. There was a nasty gash where she had struck, and both heads were swaying in pan.

"We can do this!" she chirped to cheer her comrades on. Both of her teammates gave her some sort of acknowledgement: a grin from Mo and a thumbs up from Josh. But that was exactly what Para-Dox needed.

In that spilt second of distraction both heads had rose to the sky, blue flames flickering from their mouths. "Dragonbreath!" they both shouted and discharged a ball of bleu fire at both Mo and Josh.

Josh took his full on while Mo managed to skirt back just enough so that it hit the ground in front of him. The shockwave from the explosion sent him back against a courtyard wall. He slumped down onto the ground.

"No!" squeaked Amber, running over to him. On her way she remembered Josh, and looked back at him while she ran.

The Squirtle was slowly getting up, but he looked to be in pain. Luckily though it seemed that his shell had taken most of the blow.

_That power…it's ridiculous! _He thought as he watch Para-Dox take all the time they needed to catch a breath, as he and Mo were in no shape to attack again and Amber was preoccupied. _Just one shot and I'm almost down! I don't think I can say the same for Mo, though…_

"Mm, Para, looks like we've got our first meal," cooed Dox as the began to make their way to Mo and Amber.

"Hm, indeed, Dox," said Para, licking his lips. "I do believe I call dibs on the Torchic."

"Mm, no, unfair!" shouted Dox. His head swiveled around so that he was fully facing Para. "We did not agree on a period of agreeing on who would eat who!"

"Hm, that's too bad!" shouted Para, facing his counterpart as well. Although neither faced their intended path, the body kept going as if a third brain controlled that. "I believe that is the point of dibs!"

"Mm, that was not made clear to me!"

"Hm, then maybe you should pay better attention!"

"I think you should both shut up!" squeaked a voice from behind Josh. "Discharge!"

Dozens of arcs of blue electricity converged on Para-Dox's body. The beast reared, and both heads screamed with pain filling their cries.

Josh felt something fluffy brush up against head. He was surprised to behold Didi standing next to him, looking more determined than he thought possible from the prankster.

"Why did you come back?" asked Josh, briefly wincing from the pain of his wounds.

"I've never even seen someone land _one _hit on this guy," said Didi with a grin. Her tail bristled. "The pure fact that you figured out the trick means you guys are somethin' special."

Josh raised an eyebrow. "You knew that trick too?"

"Yup," she said, nodding proudly, "But I'm just one little Pokémon. I'm fast, but no way I could've pulled that on my own."

She cracked her neck and her tail bristled once more. "Now, you read to finish this or what?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," said Josh with a resolute grin. Excitement welled up within him. _We can do this…we can really do this!_

Josh rushed forward and readied an Ice Punch. Just as he had predicted, both heads locked onto him and the body hunkered down, ready to do something about it.

"Hyper Fang!" cried Didi. She leapt up onto Josh's shell and used it like a springboard to gain more momentum. She began spinning in a ball, her glowing sharp teeth creating a deadly sharp edge.

Didi smacked into Dox's head, and then bounced into Para's. She began to bounce back and forth between the two like a pinball before springing off and landing on all fours, tail in the air.

Josh continued to rush at Para-Dox, and then leapt into the air. Para's mouth shot up and snagged Josh out of the air with his razor sharp teeth. He let out a chuckle.

"Aht ow, Urtle Oop?" he crackled, unable to form words with the prey in his mouth.

With more confidence then pray should have, Josh grinned. He tapped his shell…which was the only part of his body that Para had gripped.

He whimpered as Josh raised a fist. "Ice Punch," he said calmly, and slammed it down in Para's head.

But that wasn't all for the poor Zwelious head. Immediately after Josh was clear Didi leapt onto his head and turned to Dox.

She stuck out her tongue and pulled down her lower eyelid. Furious, Dox lunged at her teeth bared. Didi leapt up just in time. Dox's teeth sunk into Para, who let out a yelp.

The Pachirisu landed now on Dox's head. "Discharge!" she squeaked, unleashing a storm of blue electricity.

Para-Dox recovered and shook her off. She rolled on the ground and Josh ran to her, helping her up.

"Dark Pulse!" shouted Para-Dox, launching a black beam of energy from both of their mouths. Josh managed to pull Didi out of harm's way just in time.

Amber had just reached Mo. "Are you alright!?" she asked frantically to the nearly unconscious Mo. He coughed and rolled over.

"F-fine…" he gaze over to Para-Dox, who were preparing to pounce on Didi and Josh. Their little scheme had only taken them so far, and he doubted they'd be able to pull something the likes of that off again.

"Gotta…help…" he moaned. He tried to lift himself up off the ground, but winced and fell back down. Amber loomed over him.

"No! You're hurt! You've done all you can!"

Before Mo could hiss out a protest, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. And out of Para-Dox's sight."

He could still help, but he'd have to put himself into mortal danger.

But that was Team MAX's specialty.

Using his tail he flicked a pebble at the back of Para's head. Half of the Zwelious turned and hissed at him.

"L-leer…" moaned Mo, his eyes briefly twinkling red. The two locked eyes for a moment, taking Para's focus off of all else.

Dox was unaffected, but Mo achieved his goal. The body didn't move. It held firm, shaking. Mo's head too began to shake, straining from the pressure.

He gasped and released it, falling back to the ground. Para opened his mouth to Dragonbreath him out of existence, when suddenly-

"Flamethrower!"

"Ice Beam!"

"Solarbeam!"

A three streams of fire, ice, and white hot energy converged on Para-Dox. There was a bright flash, and an explosion. Mo wrapped his tail around Amber and forced her to the ground to avoid the bursts of light and shrapnel.

Para-Dox was flung against the wall. They fell onto the ground into a pile of rubble and dust.

Ricardio, Jake, and Amy skidded to a stop in front of them. Ricardio helped Amber back to her feet and Jake gave Mo an Oran Berry.

Josh and Didi weren't too far behind them. "Did you guys see how awesome we were!?" cried Josh, smacking Didi a high-five. "That was _so cool!_ I still don't have my memories, but I doubt I did anything that awesome in the human world!"

Didi, Jake, and Amy shrieked. Faces of surprise were donned. "Y-you're a human!?"

Josh grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "I-It's kind of a long story…"

"A story meant for later," corrected Ricardio, nodding towards the pedestal where Para-Dox had rested. "Right now, we must-a locate the Nidoran and make-a sure she is okay."

Josh stretched and nodded. "Sure, right after-"

The ground underneath them shook and the heads of Para-Dox burst up from the pile of rubble, teeth bared. Everyone was completely unprepared, and it seemed over.

"Will-o-wisp!" came a cry from behind them. Balls of blue fire sot into the faces of Para-Dox, circling around them and battering them from all sides. The balls exploded, and the Zwelious-both heads-fell down defeated.

Emerging from behind the pedestal was not a Nidoran as they had expected. It was a Vulpix.

* * *

**The Pokemon trapped inside the temple was not a Nidoan, but a Vulpix (the OC sent in by burningleafship, who will receive a better intro next chapter). What story does she have to tell? Why was Team MAX lied to? What treasures lie in the temple? What trouble is going down in Quarrysville? Find out all that and more next week!**

**Rebellion OC submissions are only going on for one more week, so get em in if you have em. Also, check out my new story, Eterna Academy! That's accepting OCs as well.**

**Okay, one last "also. I promise. An author by the name of Amerath's Destiny, a regular reviewer to my stories, has done a great service and created a forum specifically deigned to make it easier for authors to keep track of OCs sent in by simply directing their readers to a thread they make there. If you're accepting OCs for a story, why no create a thread at her forum and direct your readers there? It's called The OC Submission Station. Make sure to thank Amerath's Destiny, too!**

**ANd with that, I shall see you in class! Oh, wait, that's for Eterna Academy...oops...I need to get a thing for this one...**


	13. Chapter 13: Lies and Letters

**Last time on Explorers of Destiny:**

**Team Justice foiled a covert smuggling operation of Lancelot's, but were disrupted by the most unlikely figure: Commander Bishop of the Quarrysville Police. The Commander explained that he made an under-the-table deal with Lancelot to smuggle in illegal weapons and armaments in the case of extreme desperation in war, which he predicts over the horizon. An explosion then rocks Quarrysville, and the five rush to action. Meanwhile, Team MAX struggles to defeat Para-Dox the two headed Feral Zwelious, the boss of Rocky Ruins. Their strategies pay off at first, but are soon proved ineffective. With some last minute help from Didi, Ricardio, and Team Dazzle, the day is won and they discover a Pokemon in need of rescue. But it is not a Nidoran as previously believed. It is a Vulpix. What mysteries lie buried in the Rocky Ruins? Find out now!**

* * *

During her days of living in Greentree Forest, Amber had actually seen several Vulpix. They had all been pretty, adorable creatures with eyes like petite balls of flickering flame, golden brown fur and velvet like curls on their fluffy tails.

This particular Vulpix looked like it had gone through the Distortion World and back. Its fur looked dry and bristly, caked with mud and other woodland goodies. Cuts and bruises all over the poor fox's body painted a grotesque picture of suffering and strife.

She looked dreadfully thin as if she hadn't eaten in a very long time. And her fur produced a wrenching stench that gave Amber's nostrils a revolting appetizer of what they'd face underneath a damp log.

Her Will-o-wisp attack looked to have taken a lot out of her. More than she had to spare. The Vulpix began to sway and stumble. She faltered, but caught herself and began to tremble.

Had Ricardio not rushed over to aid her she would have fallen. The chivalrous Roserade laid her down peacefully on a patch of moss and brushed some fur out of her eyes.

Team MAX, Didi, and Team Dazzle were not too far behind him, though the former were slowed up a bit from the injuries they earned from the battle with Para-Dox.

Working through the pain, Josh drove himself forward, but faltered and was caught by Jake. He grinned thankfully at the Vanillite as he was helped along the rest of the way.

"Thanks," said Josh, "I just can't hold back how much I wanna hear what that Vulpix has to say."

"Me too," said Jake, who furrowed his eyebrows (that is if Vanillite had those) and shot Josh a quizzical look, "Also on my list is the whole 'human' thing."

Josh shivered at the way Jake said that. Though Jake had proved to be a friend and Josh trusted him, that way Jake phrased his statement sounded almost _accusing_. Like his outlook on Josh would change if he revealed that he was a human.

_Is that a bad thing? _Josh thought grimly. _Do the Pokémon of this world hate humans? Mo and Amber seemed alright with it…Is Jake just curious?_

The two finally reached the sad form of the Vulpix, and were shooed back by Ricardio who then began to rifle through his bag.

"You must understand that she is tired and very malnourished," he said aside. He then produced a small vile of yellow-brown liquid and held it out for all to see. "Aha! This should do-a the trick."

"Max Elixir," said Didi, identifying the liquid. "That'll get her energy back up."

Ricardio nodded and placed the bottle onto the ground, then went back to searching through his bag. He then pulled out two apples, a loaf of bread, and a small wedge of cheese.

Picking up the Max Elixir, Ricardio went to work. He swapped the Elixir into his right hand and got down on one knee next to the Vulpix. She was motionless save for the shaky rising and falling of her chest.

Ricardio waved his flowered palm before the Vulpix's sensitive nose, and sparkling pink mist began to drift out. The Sweet Scent tickled her nasal canals, the stinging blend of a dozen odors causing her eyes to water an increased amount of stirring.

Her orange eyes fluttered open weakly and she tried to speak, but was immediately hushed by Ricardio. The Explorer gently nudged her snout with the vial. "Drink."

Seeing literally nothing else to do she obliged, opening her mouth enough for Ricardio to slowly trickle the brew down her throat.

"Gee, Ricardio," said Mo while admiring the Roserade's suitable skills as a combat medic, "You sure know your way around a med-kit. I think you could give Doc Bliss back in Quarrysville a run for her money."

Ricardio chuckled and shook his head. "Believe me, I am no doctor," he said without taking his attention off of the Vulpix's Elixir. "I was merely trained as a combat medic."

"I thought you were an Indie?" probed Amber.

"I am. At a time however, I was not. Another story for another time."

"Speaking of stories," said Didi, turning to Josh. The Squirtle shivered. _Oh no, _he fretted. His eyes scanned the host of faces staring at him for an explanation. While not sinister or overly expectant or anything bad, he was still unnerved. _It really _is _something bad!_

Josh sighed. His shoulder slouched in defeat. "Fine, I'll tell you while we wait…"

From behind them came a rumble. From the pile of rubble that coated Para-Dox, a small rock tumbled down. And then another. Rock after rock was coming off of the pile, which only meant one thing.

Didi dropped down to all fours, cheeks sparking with electricity. Everyone else save for Ricardio (and obviously the Vulpix) attained their fighting stances with a mixture of irritancy and fear.

They were irritated because he kept coming back for more, and afraid because he just took it every time.

The left head, Dox, was the first to emerge from the rubble. His counterpart followed shortly thereafter. Both were covered in purple bruises, green blood speckling their scales.

Both swayed dizzily, eyes closed with an ill look that rivaled the Vulpix's. A larger cloud of rock and dust fell off of the pile when one foot came out, and then another.

Finally, the entire body was above the rubble. The tail was the last thing to snake out of the mound which then whipped around to remove some stones.

Dox's eyes blinked open and looked to be stung by the light. His head reeled back and his eyes squinted. "Unh, what happened?"

"I don't know…" moaned Para. The right head shook his neck clean of any unwanted rocky passengers. "But everything hurts…"

Dox made another attempt at looking around and noted eight blurry figures in the distances. He sucked in an excited breath and hastened his efforts to clear his sights.

"Para…I think I see rescuers! We're saved!"

The two heads exchanged happy banter while the "rescuers" were left to consult each other in an attempt to lessen their confusion.

Technically they had been sent to do just that, rescue, but at this point they had absolutely no idea who was rescuing who.

Para-Dox finished talking and approached the Exploration party. All six fighters flinched back to their fighting poses which had slackened during the temporary conundrum.

Although they were all small first-stage Pokémon with a raggedy assortment of adventure items, Para-Dox seemed startled and skidded to a stop. Both heads leaned back.

"W-we were wrong!" shrieked Para, "They're bandits! They've come for our treasure!"

Dox gulped. "But we don't _have _any treasure!" The duo of heads lowered themselves to the ground and raised their claws atop their skulls for protection. "Please spare us!" they chorused.

Now, they had all heard some pretty strange things that day, but this took the cake. Less than two minutes ago this hulking two-headed beast had been trying to rip them limb from limb and slow roast them. And now they were begging for mercy…

Ricardio had been solemnly trying to avoid the commotion behind him so that he could focus on the Vulpix, but curiosity got the better of him. He caught himself about to glance at the hubbub concerning Para-Dox, but caught something else out of the corner of his eye whilst looking back.

"No treasure, eh?" he accused and raised an eyebrow. The Roserade pointed around the pedestal. "Then what about that?"

Using their long necks Para-Dox peeked around the pedestal and gasped. They gulped and sweatdropped. "W-we have absolutely no idea how that got there!"

Teams MAX and Dazzle were not only trained, but they were no fools. Even if it wasn't they knew more than to go for a silly distraction.

Didi, on the other hand, couple with her slightly greedy nature, did not. The Squirrel Pokémon scampered up the pedestal and shrieked when she gazed over the top. "You guys have _got _to see this!"

She leapt off of the pedestal and out of their view. In the direction she was headed they could hear the crunching of twigs and dry leaves.

Para-Dox began to make their way towards wherever Didi was headed as well. Jake and Amy ventured around the other side.

Josh looked to Amber and shrugged, but Mo had already taken the liberty of unofficially leading Team MAX around.

Once on the other side he drew in a sharp breath. "Whoa…"

The entire back end of the courtyard was empty. The weathered stone grounds were covered in autumn leaves and roots from trees above the enclosure. Several rotted logs and branches had fallen in over the years.

Dead in the center of the courtyard was a massive treasure chest, overflowing with Poké and other goods.

"Yippee!" shouted Didi, taking off on all fours for the treasure chest. She swan-dove inside and then breached the surface, spitting out a few gold coins. "We're rich!" The Pachirisu proceeded to swim around in the golden pool, squealing joyfully.

"Correction; _we're _rich!" growled Amy, clearing the final distance between her and the treasure chest. She propped herself against it with two paws and barked at Didi. "Now get out of my treasure!"

"Ahem," interjected Mo, displaying his classic crossing of the arms and tapping of the foot. Amy grinned and sweatdropped.

"Sorry," she admitted, getting down from the treasure chest, "You're right."

Amber picked up a shining red ruby with her claw and admired how it reflected the light that broke through the trees above. She shook her head and put the gem back down.

"No, Didi is right. Without her help, we'd be dead." Didi stopped her gallivanting to listen to Amber, who smiled up to the Pachirisu. "If it's a problem, she can have some of our share."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" spat Mo, annoyed at his teammate's lack of foresight. "Who elected you Treasurer of Team MAX?" He jabbed a reproachful finger at her chest, causing the Torchic's face to scrunch up accusingly.

"I was just being polite!" she hissed, getting up in Mo's face considering she had no fingers to point. "You know, we'd both be dead if it weren't for Didi! We owe her that much!"

"I'm just saying that not only are you being inconsiderate enough to alter our deal without even consulting us, but now you won't even allow Josh to weigh in!"

"Uh, no, that's your fault! It's 1-1, and you aren't giving me a chance to ask Josh either!"

With every back and forth the angry faces intensified and the glares got harder. At this point Josh could hardly tell whether or not they were both using Leer.

Josh gulped and took a step back. He was in between a rock and a hard place, as was becoming tradition. Amber and Mo would clash, and Josh would have to be the referee.

But the Squirtle was saved by the bell. Two, to be exact.

"Huh. I don't think this is the treasure."

Para-Dox was eyeing the pile of riches in a most peculiar fashion. He was confused. Not excited like the rest of them. It was as if the treasure…confounded him. Contradicted something he knew.

"Are you finally remembering?" asked Josh, who could sympathize with memory loss. Dox nodded.

"We remember now…we had come here in search of a treasure."

Mo looked up at the chest at least twice his height. If these two could mistake this fortune for something else…or vice versa…how valuable was this treasure?

"So you're saying you _didn't _come to find this treasure trove?" asked a skeptical Mo. Para-Dox shook their heads. They drew closer and both heads fanned out, checking both sides of the box simultaneously.

"What we were looking for was…a gem," said Para, lifting his neck while Dox continued to search. Josh noticed that the carnivorous magenta glow had faded from his eyes, and the drooling had stopped.

Instead, he could now see a pair of pleasant periwinkle irises just looking for answers. And once again, it reminded him a lot of his own.

"A gem like this?" asked Amber, holding up the ruby once again. Dox came up for air and studied the gem. The left half of the Zwelious shook his head.

"No. It was far bigger."

Jake examined the enclosed area around them. "We're in the open-air courtyard of a ruined temple in the middle of the forest. Who would stick a monster gem right in the middle?"

"This place wasn't built as a ruin, dummy!" teased Amy as she rewarded Jake's shortsightedness with a playful slap upside the head. But then she herself began to wonder. "Do you know what this place was before it fell into ruin?"

"We have a good idea," said Dox, turning around with both heads and the body facing the temple. "This temple was built entirely to house this gem. It was called the Keystone of Love."

Mo snickered and leaned up against the treasure chest. "Lemmie guess. Did it unlock the hearts of young maidens or whatever?"

"No. In fact, we never found out what it did," said Para. The Zwelious raised one foot and placed it atop the stump of a crumbled pedestal, staring off into space as their past began to slowly trickle back.

"We were going to do some more research once we had the Keystone, but there were supposedly more. How many, we don't know." The Zwelious sighed, "The last thing we remember was searching extensively and finding nothing. That chest full of goodies was never there. After giving up…we started to feel weird…"

Para's head drooped. Being a Water-Type, Josh could distinguish liquid from other things better than anyone there, and the Squirtle could clearly see that the Zwelious head was crying.

"The very last thing we remember was writing a letter to Sally…our mate," Dox filled in for his counterpart. "She had contracted a rare disease and was not doing so well. The doctors theorized that there was indeed a cure, but it was far too expensive for them to acquire. The money we hoped to obtain in exchange for this gem was to go towards said cure." He hung his head as well. "By now, it is undoubtedly too late…"

Unanimously, everyone forgot all strife that the Hostile Pokémon had caused them only a few minutes ago and collectively felt pain for the two hearts before them.

"I…I'm so sorry…"whispered Amber, sniffling and holding back tears.

"No," said Para, shaking his head. "It's all our fault!" He roared and launched a Dragonbreath at the wall. It exploded and caused several stones and clods of dirt to fall into the courtyard from the area above the impact spot.

Para then began to let out a series of growls and whimpers, shaking as Dox comforted him. Even so Mo still wondered to himself.

"That just leaves one question," said the Snivy, scratching his chin and addressing his comrades. "How did this treasure get here."

"It belonged to the fallen explorers who attempted conquering Para-Dox."

The Vulpix had gotten up and was slowly sauntering towards the adventure party. Damage and weakness clearly radiated from her stride, but she looked of much better health.

"What do you mean?" asked Amber to the other female. The Vulpix sat down to clarify.

"My name is Flair," she explained, sliding forward a tattered bag containing a few berries and some broken equipment. The Vulpix had obviously been ill equipped for this venture.

"I'm an Explorer. Or…at least I wanted to prove myself one. See, my sister Star is a really famous Explorer…"

Mo wagged his finger at Flair. "I do believe I've heard of her…she discovered the Starglow Caves, did she not?"

"Yes," said Flair, "They were partially named for her. I've spent my entire life living in her shadow, and…" Flair sighed and pawed at the ground. "Well…she hasn't exactly been a good sport about her having all the fame and me having nothing…

"So, I decided to attempt at getting my name out there. And how else? Well, I thought the simple answer would be conquering an unconquerable dungeon, which brought me here. And many others."

Para-Dox's heads scanned the courtyard. They shrugged their shoulders. "Did they all dump their treasure and leave?"

Flair answered by getting back up and walking over to the treasure chest. "Would you mind moving this?"

Para-Dox obliged, using his above average bulk to slide the strongbox of treasures to the side. It scraped along the side, and the Zwelious put in a considerable amount of effort for the venture.

When he finished he backed up panting, and sucked in another quick breath as he jumped back. "N-no! I couldn't have!"

Everyone else crowded the hole and gazed inside. Jake backed up in surprised disgust, and Amy simply covered her eyes. Amber felt sick.

Inside the perfectly circular hole were bones. Nothing but the skulls and bones of seemingly dozens of Pokémon.

Para-Dox was in pure shock, stumbling back in forth and hyperventilating as the two heads tried to reason out what had happened with each other.

Josh really felt for the guy…s. They had come here on a noble mission to save their love one, blacked out, and awoken to find evidence that they had been responsible for the deaths of many a Pokémon.

The frightened Dragon-Type received a gentle pat on the shoulder from Josh. A smile lit up his face. "Don't worry. It wasn't your fault."

They sniffled and were noticeably shaking. "Can…can we ever go back to normal life."

"We'll find something for you," said Josh, "I promise."

Ricardio had finished packing up and was brushing his hands off. "Well, I say we move along. This adventure has been a success, no?"

"I agree we got a lot done, but…" Mo couldn't help but feel uneasy about this whole situation. He was speculating that this whole dungeon treasure scheme was a trap in and of itself, but what about the false rescue?

Sure in the end they had technically rescued three, but no Nidoran as they had been sent to discover.

Mo once again examined the bone. Light broke through the wavering shadows of the tree branches in the wind above them, accenting the skeletons' ghostly white color.

He was no doctor or…whatever you call an expert on bones, but he saw no signs of a Nidoran corpse. For one reason or another, they had been swindled.

But why?

…

Commander Bishop and Team Justice burst out of the Police Station with Frillish officers pouring out behind them as if someone had spilled a bag of blue marbles.

Far beyond Town Square a pillar of black smoke was piercing the horizon. All of the Pokémon present had stopped to stare in shock and awe at the smoldering tower.

Smaller vibrations still could be felt from that side of town; wherever it was, it was still under attack.

Bishop tapped the Comm Orb embedded into his gauntlet like forearm. "This is Commander Bishop to all available units. Proceed towards area of activity. Contain the situation until I arrive. Bishop out."

"That'd betta' not be the bank!" screamed Mars, brandishing his claws in the air. James swatted him on the back of the head.

"The bank is right over there!" he cried, pointing to the establishment literally on the other side of the fountain. Mars relaxed a bit.

Commander Bishop had taken off, but skidded to a stop when he heard Mars and James bickering. "Are you coming, or are you just going to stand there daft?"

"You heard the commander," said Matt to his teammates. "Let's move!" Matt and Mars took off on all fours while James drifted alongside them. Phil pushed off of his muscular tail and glided above them.

They had no trouble reaching their destination. Not only could Philip keep tabs on their destination using the smoke as a waypoint, but the masses of Pokémon flocking away from the direction in which they were headed was a tell-tale sign that something in that general direction was something they _did not _want to be involved in.

_Which is exactly why we are headed there, _Phil thought cynically, _and to think it's only Monday…_

Soon the response party arrived at a familiar establishment: Salty's Snack Shack. The left claw/tower of the restraint stand shaped like its owner was afire life a torch, and there was massive damage to the upper parts of the main body.

But Salty proved to be a versatile as the rumors of Team Roughnecks told, and also as irritable according to other rumors. The Crawdaunt would shout curses at the attacking outlaws, often using undecipherable sea slang, and then poking out from behind the counter he was using as cover to launch a powerful Hyper Beam.

"Come back 'ere, ya yella bellied cowards!" I yelled not to the assailants, but behind him to his cowering staff taking refuge in the kitchens. "Yer all gettin' docked a vacation day!"

A Glameow leapt at a downed Frillish officer to finish the job, which was coincidentally Salty's prime field of visibility lied. "Swift!" he cried, snapping off a quick barrage of star shape energy bolts. The crackled into the Glameow's side and took her out of the fight.

So far Salty had proved to be very competent defender, taking down anyone who got too close to him and nailing those cocky enough to stray from cover farther away with pinpoint accuracy.

The mercenaries decided to do something about that. They'd never get what they wanted if Salty was left standing in their way, and they no longer could play the waiting game as officers and Explorers were starting to arrive on scene.

"You two," snarled a Mightyena to a Darumaka and a Politoed. "Get over there and distract him!"

Both obliged and hustled into the area where Salty had just taken down the Glameow, making it seem like the two were coming back to retrieve the unconscious body or something on it.

"Back fer more, are ya?" Salty called (more to himself than his opponents. Either way the old Crawdaunt shifted his focuses towards the two, just as the mercs had planned it.

Behind him in the air, a Golbat circled around and prepared to go in for an attack. Although this would by no extension result in a kill shot, but the second Salty took his attention off of his opponents, they'd pounce on him and he'd be finished.

Luckily, Team Justice had arrived. Matt's tactical eye picked up the Golbat and exactly what he had planned. "Phil, take care of that guy!" he called to his airborne ally.

"Affirmative." Although Phil had wings, he could not fly. Flapping around like a maniac would only cause his leathery wings to slice through the air he glided on, and he'd falter. But Phil was still an experience aviator.

The Gliscor dove low to the ground, jabbing his tail into the road like a brawny needle, and then pushing off. This gave him the force he needed to shoot up at the Golbat like a heat seeking missile.

"Sky Uppercut!" he growled as his claw crackled with kinetic energy from the momentum. Phil thrust it into the Golbat's enormous mouth, and the unconscious Poison/Flying Type fell into the brush behind the shack.

As they approached the fight Team Justice entered complete sync. They were an organized fighting machine and they fully intended to show that to these disrupters of the peace.

Mars hopped onto Matt's body as the Typhlosion performed a mighty bound over the Politoed and Darumaka. Midflight, Mars hopped off and dispatched the two with an Iron Tail.

Matt spun around and pushed up onto two feet, not wasting any time in yelling, "Eruption!" A pillar of fire billowed from his maw and into a concentration of mercenaries. Several were taken down, even more were injured, and the rest had their cover simply melted by the scorching Fahrenheit.

"Gentlemon, fire at will!" commanded a Frillish, thrusting his spear towards the coverless and confused Pokémon. Behind him, an organized line of Frillish began to pick off targets with Water Pulse.

Another group launched a volley of Signal Beams, Thunderbolts, Fire Blasts, and various other ranged moves at the Snack Shack.

James flipped around next to Matt, his skirt-like appendages billowing around him as he began to glow and raise his arms. The attacks were stopped dead in the air, and with some slight course correction they were used to down the remaining flying enemies.

From there on out it was a pretty one sided battle. The remaining mercs were trapped, with the virtual wall of Frillish, Explorers and other combatants on one side, Salty on the other, and Team Justice taking down the riff-raff in the middle.

But these mercs weren't stupid. They didn't fight out the rest of the losing battle without reason or rhyme.

This entire set up had been one big distraction. Not even the mini distraction with the Glameow earlier, but the whole frontal assault.

Just as the officers were rounding up the last merc a small hit squad was heading around the back. It was over for Salty and everyone else inside.

Matt noticed this while handing a Sableye over to a Frillish officer. "Look out!" a cried to Salty as he saw a Gengar uncurl itself from the ceiling.

Salty rotated but there was no way he'd be able to repulse the entire attack by himself. "Swift!" cried Matt and he unleashed his own deadly accurate stream of stars at the Gengar. By the time he realized it would do no damage, he was already posed for attack.

That's when the ambushers got ambushed. From behind the knot of assassins dropping from the ceiling dropped another Pokémon. It hunkered down, making its overall appearance undeterminable, but two antennae were clearly visible.

From its bent position it swept the Gengar's feet out from under him, and then raised a shapely leg to stab into his back.

The Pokémon stood up, revealing it to be a Leavanny, most likely female. Attempting to surprise her, a Krabby dropped down from the ceiling but was blown out of the air by a well-placed Energy Ball.

Three Sableye leapt at her, two of which were taken down by two expert slashes from a Leaf Blade. The third was simply repulsed by a kick to the stomach. He slid into a small counter and was clonked on the head with a metal skillet by Crusty the Dwebble.

Tossing her antennae to the side with a flick of her head she proceeded out of the kitchen. "Sorry for the damage," she said in a womanly voice that would be attractive to any species.

"Wow," said Mars as he watched her go. Her swagger was all hips.

"I'll say," said James, admiring the hips more than the battle to which Mars had been referring to. "Hubba-hubba."

The clank of metal feat alerted Team Justice to the approach of Commander Bishop. He looked virtually unscathed from battle although it was no doubt that he had knocked a few heads together himself.

"Commander, do you know why this attack was caused?" asked Matt as Phil landed beside them.

"My theory was as stated before, though in an asinine manner by James," said Philip, adjusting his glasses and earning a glare from James. "Considering the amount of Sableye present, I deduce that Lancelot was in fact responsible."

Bishop nodded. "I share the same theory; Lancelot does have favor Sableye for henchmen." Sableye were small yet vicious, extremely hard to peg, and were no bother to find. Although they did swear undying loyalty, it was to whoever paid them the most, but folks like Lancelot who could dish out quite a pretty penny didn't have to worry about that.

"However," Bishop said, producing a torn envelope, "This letter was discovered in the possession of the mercenary leader. We hope to find confirmation of who sent these thugs and why."

"Why haven't you read it yet," asked Matt, scratching his head. He knew it was Lancelot, but something rubbed him the wrong way about all of this.

"We did," confirmed Bishop. "It is in a language I have never seen in all of my days."

"Perhaps she can translate for you, sir."

Two Frillish guards approached edging the Leavanny ahead of them. Despite being dangerously close to a stabbing from the stalwart guards she seemed to be in an oddly good mood.

That's when Matt noticed a particular detail about her he had not previously. Under her right eye was a red tattoo. It was small, almost resembling a lightning bolt. The pain encircled her entire eye.

"As much as I'd thoroughly love to aid in this investigation, I fear I must depart, gentlemen," she said with a smile and a wink.

James heart was aflutter. "Already…?"

Commander Bishop shook his head, whishing her to stay for a different reason. Well, not wishing really. "No. You will not leave until you are questioned. You are the only witness to this crime scene that is not either a mercenary or an employee of the establishment that fell under attack."

She shrugged. "Fair enough. But you'll have to make me a deal."

"Fine." Bishop was in no mood for deals, as he wanted to get to the bottom of this mess ASAP. But he'd humor her…for now.

"Delightful." She tapped the envelope with her leaf hand. "I wish to read this letter."

"Lemmie get this straight," said Matt to the still smiling Leavanny. "Your condition for _not _having to help with the investigation is to actually help with the investigation?"

"Yup." She nodded. "Pretty much. I mean, if that's the way you want to look at it."

Matt consulted Bishop, who simply shrugged. "That's a lot more cooperation than I usually get. Fine. Take her to the Station, boys. I'll meet you there presently."

* * *

**Rocky Ruins has turned up even more mystery! It turns out that Para-Dox is just as lost as Flair(burningleafship's OC) and the entire dungeon was some elaborate trap to accumulate treasure. But why? Also, what is this Keystone of Love? Sound kinda familiar...In any case, what will the adventure party, after picking up three (technically four if you count heads) new bodies? And what of the attack on the Snack Shack? What were Lancelot's goons after? What does the letter say? And who is this Leavanny? SO MANY QUESTIONS!**

**Find out next time in Chapter 14, Rebel Action! Yup, it's about that time...Bug-Type OCs will soon be debuting!**

**So, I've got a little schedule change coming. I'm not available later next week, so the next chapter will hopefully be posted on Wednesday instead of making you wait till Monday. Hopefully I'll also have the next Eterna Academy chapter up by then.**

**See you next week, slightly ahead of schedule!**


	14. Chapter 14: Premonition

**Last time on Explorers of Destiny:**

**Teams MAX and Dazzle find out that Para-Dox was truly a Feral, and at heart is a gentle Explorer who set out in search of riches to pay for his mate's illness. Though he had no idea what the actual treasure was doing there: he claimed to have been in search of a gem called the Keystone of Love. Flair, the Vulpix, backs this up by saying that the treasure had been left by fallen Explorers. Meanwhile, Team Justice thwarts an outlaw strike on Salty's Food Shack, the outlaw's motives unknown. The only evidence turned up is an unreadable letter and a Leavanny who claims she can translate. Will these mysteries be solved? Well, the don't call it MYSTERY dungeon for fits and giggles, now do they?**

* * *

Night had fallen on the eight adventurers on their trek back to Quarrysville, and so the intrepid group had set up a small camp for the night.

Amber was very satisfied in her ability to use Ember as a means of lightning a campfire. Mo had seen much greater show of Fire-Type moves, but he decided to let the Torchic have her moment.

Around said fire sat Jake, Amy, and Mo, the gigantic treasure chest next to them. Para-Dox had volunteered to have the chest hitched to his back and had carried it like a sport the whole way.

In Mo's hand was a small legal pad with immaculate booking notes scrawled over its surface.

Negotiations between the two teams over who got what was going rather smoothly. Mo was learned in this field and good with bookkeeping, and Jake and Amy were very cool customers thus preventing any disputes that went farther than a mere alteration in the compromise.

Mo scribbled a few things on his pad and picked up a ruby. In fact it had been the very same one Amber had admired a few hours ago.

"Okay, so this ruby looks to be roughly equal in value to the three pearls you two just obtained," said Mo, turning the ruby to examine it. The firelight reflected marvelously off of the vibrant surface, creating the illusion that there was in fact fire within. "Do you agree?"

Jake and Amy exchanged glances, and then nodded. "Yeah, seems fair," said Jake pleasantly. Mo placed the gem in the small pile belonging to Team MAX.

_This is going great, _he thought as he scribbled a few more notes in the score and silently appraised a rusty tiara. _With all this loot we can buy a whole lot of startup gear for the team, and probably get a nice down-payment on a base. And that's not even mentioning the stuff that's still useable._

Covered in a few droplets of water, Josh sat down beside Mo. The Squirtle had grown restless being in a dry forest near a campfire, and had sought out a nearby creek to take a quick dip.

"How do you feel?" Mo asked his comrade while still focusing on his current task.

"Felt pretty good," replied Josh, shaking off the last few droplets. Mo shielded his notebook from the miniature spray.

Josh peeked over the Snivy's shoulder and admired his work. "You know, you're really good at this stuff, Mo. Like, organizing and strategizing and stuff."

"Yeah…" Perhaps a week ago Mo would've interpreted this as an implication that he was not a capable fighter. He probably would've come back harshly at Josh.

But now he truly understood that, in fact, he _had _understood this in the past, but had simply put faith in the aspect of leadership. Too much faith. He knew what he was good at, what purpose he could serve best on a team, but still craved leadership.

Which is why he felt less conflicted bringing himself to say this. "If we could have a minute, guys?" Mo asked to Team Dazzle. The nodded and the negotiations paused.

"I…don't know how to say this," said Mo as he rubbed his arm. "I'm not gonna lie, my pride is kinda getting in the way."

"Don't worry about it," said Josh, warmly putting an arm on his friend's shoulder. Though someone being too proud could be annoying, Mo had the guts to admit it and Josh wouldn't hold that against him. Plus, Mo was his friend.

Mo told Josh pretty much entirely what he had just been thinking. About how he knew his strengths yet ignored his weaknesses on a team. One of those being leadership.

"Which is why…" Mo reached into his bag on the ground beside him and pulled out Josh's badge. He tapped the center gem twice. "I want you to be Team Leader."

"I agree," chirped Amber, standing up from where she had been sitting and conversing with Flair and Didi on the other side of the fire. "Mo and I talked about this on the way here. We agree that you're the most qualified."

Josh was at a loss for words. Any that might've been there were washed right back down his throat by honor…and fear.

"Guys, I…I don't know what to say," choked the exasperated Squirtle. "I mean…I've been in this world for a few days! Plus, I'm a human!"

"So what?" shrugged Didi.

"Wait…what!? You guys all freaked out when you found out I was a human," Josh stammered in confusion. Between being ratified to Team Leader against his will and finding out he had made a mountain out of a Drilbur hill he felt the actual status condition would follow.

"Not really," said Amy. "We were just kinda surprised. Humans were supposed to only be myths, much less humans who turned into Pokémon."

Para-Dox tromped up next to him. "Besides, it's not what you are but what you did that shows us who you truly are," said Para, with Dox nodding in agreement and adding, "What he's saying is that it would be foolish and wrong to judge all humans on what you or any of the other rumored humans did, but you've honored the stories quite diligently."

Josh truly felt warmer on the inside than when he had been ignited by the Dragonbreath. All of these Pokémon that he had just met were expressing so much faith in him…and if they could, why couldn't others.

He was inspiring hope, which meant he was doing exactly what he set out to do.

Hand shaking, Josh reached out and took the badge. "I…I accept."

Everyone clapped and cheered around the campfire.

"Good show, my friend," said Ricardio.

"Marvelous!" Para and Dox shouted at the same time.

"Good going!" said Amy

"You've earned it," said Jake.

"Huzzah for Josh the Squirtle!" shouted Didi, hopping up into the treasure chest and showering him with gold. Josh laughed and shielded his face as he was pelted with Poké.

Josh examined his new leader badge with extreme pride, his entire face eclipsed by an awe inspired grin. "It still looks the same, though," he commented, though not complaining.

Mo nodded to Amber. She reached up to the badge with one of her talons and tapped it twice, similar to how Mo had.

"Now all you have to do is tap it three times," said Mo. Josh did so slowly. _One…two…three!_

There was a bright burst of green light from the badge. Josh shielded his eyes on reflex and stumbled back. Blinking the flashing lights away he scrutinized the badge for any differences.

The grey gem still symbolized their Normal Rank, but his now had a small blue star in the center of it.

"Tap it again," suggested Mo. Josh did so, resulting in a shrill _BLEEP _from his badge. The grey gem faded and was replaced by a small light green circle of energy. On it he saw a gold star, representing him, and two dots in very close proximity: one red and one dark green.

"It's a radar," he said in pleasant surprise. Mo nodded and held out his hand. Josh placed the badge into it. Mo then motioned for him to come and watch.

"Come closer. Now that it's keyed to you, no one else can interact with it." Josh and Amber peeked over Mo's shoulder as he gestured. "This can locate anyone on our team, as long as they have their badge with them. It's very useful to coordinate efforts, especially if we can get our hands on some Comm Orbs."

The Snivy then brushed the wings on the side of the badge with his fingers. "When we're in a dungeon and we've either rescued someone or reached the end, you can squeeze these to teleport us out. Mind you, it's not an Escape Orb, and we can only use it under certain circumstances."

He tossed the badge back to Josh, who fumbled it before getting a grip and pinning I back on his scarf. "Team Leader Josh, reporting for duty," he said, standing at attention.

He pivoted at the sound of scales scraping against the ground. Both faces looking quite nervous, Para-Dox was pawing at the dirt with edge.

"Something the matter, guys?" asked Josh. Para and Dox looked at each other to decide who would have to speak, and finally Dox sighed and represented their case.

"On the subject of teams…well…after you rescued us and stuff…we have nowhere to go, and…we kinda…"

"We want to join Team MAX," blurted Para. Dox rammed into him with his neck and hissed something about being too hasty and making them look stupid.

Josh was team leader and could make them members at will, but wanted to consult with Mo and Amber first. "Well guys, what do you say?"

"Well…we've kinda just started and shouldn't really add to our main roster…" Mo said with an air of guilt. He was correct, but he still didn't feel right about it.

"Oh, we thought you'd say that," said Para a bit enthusiastically. "We meant we wanted to become an auxiliary member."

Amber scratched her head with a talon. "Auxiliary member?"

"I must admit, I'm not very familiar with the term as well," said Josh.

"Let's let them show their knowledge on the subject," Mo said and motioned to Para-Dox. They nodded and cleared their throats. Para spoke first.

"Thank you. Now, based on their rank a team can have a certain number of members. We'd still count as one, but you wouldn't be able to recruit many more of us."

"Correct," said Dox to his counterpart, and continued on where he had left off. "You all are well aware that the core group of a team is responsible for a certain number of things. That is responding to summons, accepting Federation missions, representing at summits, et cetera.

"However, if a team has auxiliary members, they can help ease these loads. Auxiliary members sometimes live with the main group at their base, but not always. They exist in reserve and can be sent in an Exploration Team's name to do such things as job requests. They can also be temporarily added to the main squadron.

"Additionally, auxiliary members cannot accept requests without the consent of the Team Leader. In other words, more than two requests cannot be in progress at once from two separate groups of the same Team. This is in place to prevent fraud and such.

"But auxiliary members can do such things as work maintenance for the base; gather supplies, and a number of other services. They can pretty much live their normal lives but be called upon when needed by the team."

Mo was quite impressed by Para-Dox's knowledge of Exploration Teams. After what they had said in the Rocky Ruins Mo wouldn't be surprised if they actually were an Explorer before their accident.

Mo and Amber consulted Josh. "I would not be opposed to the addition of Para-Dox to the team," said Mo with a rare smile.

"Me too!" Amber chirped with childish glee. "The more the merrier!"

"Then it's settled. You're part of Team MAX now, Para-Dox! Welcome aboard!" Josh said to the Zwelious, bringing overjoyed smiles to their twin faces.

"Thank you. We now have a purpose again." They bowed both heads. Mo knelt down with his back to them and began rummaging through his bag.

"I'll see if we have any extra badges, but if not I can request-"

"No need," said Para, leaning back and producing a badge clutched in his mouth. The center gem was faded, with no color whatsoever.

"Our status as Explorers has expired in the time we were…well, dead," Dox filled in for his counterpart who currently had his mouth full.

"All you have to do is point your badge at theirs and press the gem," Mo informed Josh, who did just as he said but paused before hitting the button.

"Wait, are there any special words I have to say?" Josh asked his teammate. Mo shrugged.

"Most Team Leaders usually come up with their own."

Josh stared down at the badge in his hands for a quick minute. A shaky grin crept onto his face for reasons unknown as he raised the badge over his head and declared, "By the power of Team MAX, I HAVE THE POWER!"

The badge began to emanate green light and hum. Out of the center gem shot an emerald green light that struck the center of Para-Dox's badge. The beam held for a minute, and everyone's shadow flickered in the green corona as they observed the pseudo-sacred process.

With a _ZWWWWIP _the light retreated back to Josh's badge and the Squirtle lowered it. Moving closer to the Zwelious, he took part in taking the first glance at the rejuvenated badge.

"What did that mean?" Amber asked inquisitively, cocking her head to the side.

Josh's head flicked over his shoulder. "Huh?"

"What you said. What did it mean?"

"Oh, uh…" Josh looked at the ground and kicked a pebble. "I dunno. It just felt right. A word came to mind when I said it…now what was it? Referral? Referendum? Referee?" He shrugged it off. "I don't remember."

Para-Dox was examining their new badge; their new life. "Which one of us will wear it on our neck?"

Para slid it towards his counterpart. "You should."

Dox slid it back. "No, I think you should."

"I insist," said Para as he slid it once again.

"So do I. You've earned it."

Mo facepalmed as the two politely bickered over who would wear the badge. The story that the shadows they cast on the tent would've told out of context was that they were fighting. In his opinion, it added to the comedy of the situation.

Mo sat down against a log. "I liked it better when they were fighting…"

"Me too," Amy agreed with the Snivy. Her sensitive nose perked up as she quite literally caught wind of Didi and Flair's approach.

Something definitely seemed up with the two. Although they had only known the Vulpix for a few hours, Amy and Jake could clearly tell that something was wrong. Her delicate paws tapped at the ground and every time her eyes met Amy's, they'd quickly flick down, and then back up, and repeat.

Didi was a bit easier to read. The Quick Band she had picked up when making their way back through the Rocky Ruins was currently being twisted nervously between her paws, and her tail was flicking up and down.

"What's up?" asked Amy as she and Jake addressed the two. Didi opened her mouth two speak at the same time as Flair. Both quickly stopped and made a few awkward gestures of who would go first.

Eventually, Didi tapped Flair on the rear with her tail and forced her forward a few inches. Didi grinned sheepishly and stepped further back, hands clasped behind her back.

"We were talking it over, and…erm, well…" Flair sighed and decided to just get it over with. "We want to join Team Dazzle."

Jake and Amy exchanged happy and surprised glances, nodding simultaneously. "Of course you can join!"

Team MAX smiled and watched as the new Team Dazzle members rejoiced and were sworn in. Stretching, Mo picked up his pad and quill and continued bookkeeping.

"Let's see what we've got now," said Mo as he reached into the treasure chest and pulled out something much different.

Amber scrutinized the contents of what he had just picked out. "Are those…cards?"

They were. On the slim, stone rectangles were inscribed mysterious and intertwining runes, predominantly lines and squiggles.

Josh nodded. "It appears so. May I see?" he asked, holding out his hand. Mo handed him the cards, which he immediately dropped and recoiled his hand.

"What happened!?" chirped Amber, surprised by the spontaneous flinching.

Josh shook his injured hand and smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine. I just got a little static shock, that's all."

"Uh, I hate to break it to you, but stone doesn't conduct electricity," said Mo as he bent over to collect the cards from the ground.

Whatever he said next was drowned out by a buzzing in Josh's head. The Squirtle's hand found its way atop the blue dome and he sat down. "I…I think I'm gonna turn in now, guys."

If stone didn't conduct electricity…then what was that?

…

Josh was aware of the lucid dream that he found himself in. He simply stood in a field of ever-present darkness. There was no sound, no light, no nothing.

That all changed very quickly.

All in a few seconds Josh learned what the Big Bang must've been like. From the shadows burst an explosion of light. The spectrum was infinite and in all shapes, flying everywhere and through everything like a twisted fantasia.

The sounds were excruciating. It sounded like a hundred banshees screaming while scraping their fingernails down a chalkboard.

Josh stumbled, clutching his ears. And then it got _really_ trippy. Everything before him began to flicker, which Josh blamed on the dream fading and his eyes convulsing.

But when he held his Squirtle hand out in front of him, he found that his own image was flickering, like some rampant hologram containing too much data.

It would shimmer as his own hand, with lines and symbols flying out the center and then fading just to do it again.

And then the noise faded. A wave of soothing relief washed over Josh as he was left to simply watch as the various shapes of various colors zipped about, and long lines drew themselves around the white background, crossing and twisting and intertwining.

Then the noise started back up. Though this time it wasn't a terrorizing din of shrieks, but more like a current of air was whistling through his ears in a wind tunnel, with whispers all round.

Josh's eyes felt like fire as everything faded to white, and he received a quick mental loading screen of the multicolored lines crisscrossing before him just as a new image took place.

He still heard the sucking wind noises, and the edges of the image flickered and waved. But the image itself was rather clear.

A Beedrill landed in the courtyard of the Rocky Ruins. He looked around for a moment, and not finding what he was looking for, took off for the other side of the pedestal where the treasure chest had been.

That must've been what he was after, because once he looked at the spot, he hissed and took off.

His wings stirred up a quick gust of wind as he took flight, blowing away a multitude of leaves that had blanketed the ground.

Just as the image faded Josh caught a quick glances of the strange patterns that surrounded the hole covered by the treasure chest.

Josh was about to react for more when the entire image began to flicker like a candle in the breeze, with the lines racing in and out at odd intervals.

The screeching returned, but not as virulent. He saw a clawed hand clad in metal reaching for it. The hand flickered and faded.

Standing shadowed by a light were four figures of varying sizes, their beady red eyes bearing through Josh's skull.

The second tallest, and slimmest, opened its mouth in a blood red jack-o-lantern smile and pounced. That image faded as well.

The next two flashed quickly together. First was a high view of the land as five skinny beams of light shot into the air, which quickly faded to a massive beam of flashing blue energy shooting towards the ground.

As it panned up, the last thing Josh noticed before waking was the beam's target.

Quarrysville.

…

Josh woke with a start, shaking despite the slightly warmer than average temperature. He had a bitter taste in his mouth and his eyes stung.

That wasn't the worst of it though. His head was a maelstrom of mental activity, not only on his own conjunction of unanswered questions; needless to say he was sobered up quickly.

Everyone else was fast asleep. The fire had been hastily smothered out, and…

-and everything was gone. Every bag, every loose item. Josh felt there was no point in looking to check on the chest because that being stolen was a given.

The Squirtle ran about the camp shaking his friends awake. "Guys, guys, wake up! Hurry, c'mon!"

"Hunh? What's going on?" groaned Mo, rolling over.

Amber moaned and rubbed her eye with a talon. "Yeah, what gives?"

"We've been robbed!" Josh hissed in a hush. His eyes darted around above him to make sure that he hadn't been heard; he assumed that the bandits would count on an outburst from their surprised victims as a signal to hurry up.

"Indeed, we have-a been preyed upon by highwaymon," sighed Ricardio. He pointed down the way they had come, down the way they were going, and to several more paths through the woods. Each had footprints.

Though they all had something in common: no toes, no arches, and no paws. Just claws and feelers. Definitely insectoid.

Ricardio took a knee to examine one set. "They have undoubtedly split up to confound and split us up."

"What do you suggest?" asked Jake. Ricardio got back up and pointed down the path from which they had come.

"I assume that they have come in even greater numbers than we are being led to believe in these tracks. They seek to split us up and ambush us."

Like a forensic, Ricardio began one last sweep of the crime scene to pick up any evidence. The only thing he found was on a small tree near a puddle.

The water was sloshed, like someone had slipped and hit their head on the tree. On said tree was red face paint.

"I suggest we all follow one path," he said as he scraped the tree and examined the substance between his petal fingers. "We will at least capture one, and they can provide us with information on our ambushers."

Josh nodded determinedly. He was the leader of Team MAX now and he'd do everything within his power to make sure no one messed with his teammates and those around him if he could help it.

"Let's do it."

…

The Kadabra sighed as she closed the metal door to the interrogation room behind her. Awaiting her was Commander Bishop and Team Justice.

She shook her head. "I can't get anything out of her. She's like a brick wall, and her mind is incredibly resistant to my techniques."

Bishop nodded. "Thank you, Babba. You are dismissed."

She saluted and exited, leaving just the police commander and the exploration team. Bishop sighed and rested his head in one of his hands.

All efforts to get the mysterious Leavanny to talk had failed. They had yet to resort to violent or barbaric methods, and they had no conviction or authority to do so in the first place.

Where they bargained or threatened or simply talked, the Leavanny would simply smile and respond with some pleasantly irritating remark.

James punched the wall. "This is ridiculous! She said she wanted to come here and read the letter! She's done _squat_!"

"And until she talks, we got nothin' on Lancelot!" growled Mars, hopping up and down.

Matt patted the bombastic Meowth on the head to calm him down. "Let's not forget that we brought her here to find out why Salty's restaurant was attacked and to read the letter, not to bury Lancelot."

"Oh, yeah. Right…"

There were two thin rasps on the metal door behind them, code for it to be opened. Bishop did so and was greeted by a Frillish guard who greeted him back with a salute.

"Sir, she wishes to speak," he reported. Bishop nodded and proceeded forth but was stopped by the very same guard.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"I apologize, sir, but you did not let me finish." He pointed around Bishop at Phil, "She wishes to only speak with him."

Bishop grunted and turned back around. Matt patted Phil on the back and gave a thumbs up. "You can do this, buddy."

"I will do my best."

"Do you have a strategy?" asked Bishop.

Phil nodded. "I do, but I will require a quill, some ink, and a piece of paper."

The request seemed very simplistic…which added to the oddity. The greatest inquisitors that the commander had at his disposal had failed to coerce the confidant to speak, and this Explorer claimed to be able to do it with office supplies?

Nevertheless, Bishop sent an aid to retrieve such items personally, and Phil had them in his claws within the minute.

A loud iron clang resonated through the room. The containment cell was completely empty save for Phil, an empty chair, a table, and an occupied chair on the other end.

Tied to it was the Leavanny, smiling as if a friend were approaching that she had not seen in a long time.

"Hello darling," she cooed with a warm smile. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "Would you be a lamb an untie these ropes for me? I'm getting awfully chaffed."

Phil set his supplies on the table. "I will, but not because you asked," he replied curtly and snipped her bonds away with his claws.

She sighed and began to work her arms back from their sleep. Phil studied her whilst sitting down. There was no way any Bug or Grass-Type move could bust open these walls save for Solarbeam or Frenzy Plant, and there wasn't enough respective sunlight or soil to use either.

But she seemed to possess a certain comfort in this room. She planned on staying, Phil could discern. Whether or not that was part of some plan Phil could not tell.

He tapped the paper and slid the quill over to her as she sat back down. "Right your name, please."

Smiling, she took the quill with her right hand and dipped it into the ink. "Trying to gather info on me, are you? Sly."

"I assure you, that is not my intention." Phil looked over at her paper and read what she had written: Margaret.

"Thank you for your compliance," he said as he rook the quill and ink back. Margaret crossed her legs.

"Oh, well, I very well could've lied."

"I know."

Now it was her turn to study him. He openly invited it, leaning forward. The tattoo on her eye once again caught his attention.

Margaret grinned and relaxed. "You are a very strange creature, Phillip."

He assumed she was referring to his openness to study. "I wish for there to be no secrets between the two of us," he said, tapping his claws together. "Now, would you like to start? Who are you?"

"I thought that was the purpose of me writing my name."

"It wasn't, but you know what I mean."

Their gazes met again, and she spoke. "I am the member of a secretive cell of rebels who oppose the advance and rule of Sehren A'terius, the current Monarch of the Bug-Types."

_A rebel, eh? So the stories are true…_Being a bookworm had been an extensive, for lack of a better term, chapter in the book of Phil's life. Since birth he had indulged himself in countless books, scrolls, and any other form of writing.

He had become a master of self-containment, thus being able to hide his thoughts and feelings with near mechanical efficiency. It also allowed him to quite literally read his opponents.

If that was true about him, then why shouldn't he be assuming it could be the same about her? She _had _been able to effortlessly resist hours of interrogation.

The whole "rebel" thing could be a complete lie. "How can I be sure you're telling the truth?"

"Would a reasoning suffice?"

Phil shifted sitting positions. "I suppose. What exactly to you fight for."

And then Margaret gave him the simplest yet most unbelievable reason he had ever heard in his life.

She smiled and said, "A flower."

Margaret's sunny smile and dreamy gaze made Phil almost want to believe that somewhere out there, a rose was instigating a war. But then she continued.

"A zatana, to be precise. It is a flower native only to my homeland, the Emerald Peaks."

"That place sounds familiar," said Phil, scratching his head. His perfect memory couldn't place it, but it was there. Hearing of it must've been in a simple mention.

"Not many know of it. It is at the highest point of the Sunsoaked Mountains."

"The Sunsoaked Mountains? They're in the middle of a wasteland. The only difference between the surrounding area and a desert is that there's dirt instead of sand."

"True," Margaret nodded and elaborated, "The higher up you go, the more thick and humid it becomes. The heat from below mixed with the water content in the air above makes some mountaintops near tropical."

Her reasoning was strongly sound. If he had a library at his disposal he'd look the place up now. Also if he wasn't finally getting somewhere…

"Continue."

"As I hope but doubt you've heard, Sehren has been expanding without pause, conquering village after village. People after people. He claims it for the glory of our own people, but that is very much a lie."

"How so?" asked Phil raising an eyebrow. "I find it hard to receive news of a lack of nationalism from you. Wouldn't one's first reaction to victory in war be pride and honor."

For the first time since Phil had arrived, Maggie frowned. "Stand in the ashes of a hundred thousand dead souls and ask them if _honor _matters."

There was a first time for everything. Among them was the fact that something someone else had said was grave and deep enough to shut Phil up, albeit for a quick second.

Heedless, she continued. "My home is deep within Sehren's territory, almost perfectly in the center. I have never been to my home. I only know of the zatana from pictures that I have been shown.

"I was born to this war. I have lived in this war. And I will most likely die to this war. Bug-Types have notably shorter life spans than other species. In looks and spirit I am nearing the end of my prime youth, though not that close to middle age. In pure years, I am five years old.

"Everything I have ever done has been to stay alive. To keep the rebellion up and fighting. To oppress tyranny I have never done something for enjoyment. Nothing ever for vanity or pleasure. Holding a simple flower at this point seems like one such dream. A dream some of us can never see through now."

Reliving a memory, Margaret looked up, slightly to the right. "I lost every last one of my siblings to this war. My younger sister was the last to be taken, not too many weeks ago. It was on a small island in the middle of the Crystal Lake. A desolate rock."

A tear rolled down her cheek. "It was cloudy. She didn't even get to see the sun…"

Phil was on the verge of apologizing for her loss, but she would've won. That would've made him the first to slip up and reveal who had the stronger mental capabilities.

Margaret closed her eyes and finished the memory with a smile, then looked back to Phil. "I will probably not see the end of this war, much less the reclamation of my home. But I hold out hope. Hope that perhaps one day, my children's children will be able to hold an actual zatana."

Margaret folded her hands on the table. "There you are. I hope you are happy with the explanation I gave you."

"I am," he admitted with a nod. "And I believe you."

"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow. "I very well could have been-"

"Lying? Oh, but you weren't." Phil's grin grew and hers slackened a bit. "This whole time I was testing to see who would slip up first and reveal their hand. It was you.

"See, I had you write your name down not to find out your identity, but to see what hand you wrote with." Phil got up and began pacing like a lecturer.

"You use your right hand. Which told me something very important. That if when explaining you looked to your left, that would implicate a lie. But if the glance was to your right, it would've been a memory. You failed and passed at the same time."

Margaret clapped as Phil took his seat. "Bravo, I must say. We need people like you in the Rebellion."

"Perhaps I'd consider lending a hand if you gave me some more information."

"Gladly." Margaret leaned forward, antennae twitching. "I read the letter."

"And?"

"And I will tell you what it said. In parts."

"Parts?" Phil had a bad feeling that he was about to be put into a horrible deal making situation.

"Yes. Phil, I chose you because I felt you would be the most level headed and logical."

Phil snorted. "Yeah, you've got that right. By now, Mars would've called you a blasphemer five times over and attacked you."

"Oh, I took that into consideration," she said with a giggle. "But the basic gist is that Sehren wants someone dead, and he doesn't want the blood on his hands. He also knows something; something that could incite a panic among all of Poképangea if anyone finds out."

"A panic?" If that letter had something that could ensure the corrosion of society…let's just say Phil was a lot more eager to listen.

"Yes. My terms are very simple: help me find a person I know who can help. Once this transfers to his hands, we can function as normal and everything will begin to get better. That is all I ask. There is absolutely no risk to you or anyone else. My gain is yours."

"Those seem like very reasonable requests," Phil said, all things considered. "In the meantime, several more shady characters have been sighted around town and especially near Salty's place. Commander Bishop is putting together a task force to root these criminals out. We assumed you'd want to join."

Maggie smiled and nodded. "I'd love to. Anything to undercut Sehren and his goons."

The two reached across the table to shake, and an explosion rocked the building. Smoke poured through the wall, and Phil and Maggie were thrown up against a wall.

* * *

**Not even 15 chapter and over 100 reviews!? Thank you all so much!**

**I know I promised Rebel Action, but plans change. I promise next time.**

**I know I also promised a Wednesday release, but I finished early and decided to get 'er out. I'll try to get the next Eterna Academy out tomorrow because as I said, I'm busy for the rest of the week.**

**Wow, Maggie's speech was really deep...I've gotta admit though that it took a little inspiration from the speech that Cochise gave in Falling Skies (which, by the way, is really heating up. You should check it out)!**

**So, next time, we confront the mysterious thieves, go a bit deeper into Josh's premonition and the mysterious cards, find out who attacked the police station, and guess what: We'll probably check back in on Syamo, Arthur, and Takero (I hope. If not, the one after that)! See ya'll next time!**


	15. Chapter 15: Rebel Action!

**Last time on Explorers of Destiny:**

**The adventure party made camp on their way back to Quarrysville and began to sort through the treasure. After a vote from Amber and Mo, Josh was made leader of Team MAX. His first action as leader was to promote Para-Dox to an auxiliary member of the team. Soo after, Didi and Flair followed in his footsteps on Team Dazzle. While looking through the treasure, Josh found a mysterious set of cards which caused him to have a strange, lucid dream. After waking up, the group found that they had been robbed and set off in pursuit. Meanwhile, Maggie's interrogation began, spinning a tale to Phil that she is a member of a mysterious rebel group opposing Sehren. Some tricky thinking on his part revealed that she was telling the truth. Maggie then agrees to decipher the letter in that she already has, but the information is far to risky. Just as she is about to divulge some of the secrets, a massive explosion wracks that police station. What will happen next? Find out now!**

**Today's chapter will feature OCs from Cottonmouth25, ImperialLuck, HunterKR, Lectro, something dictionary related, Jhawkeye9000, Ice Lord of Termina, and Coli Chibi. If I messed up giving credit, lemmie know **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Giratina's Wings, what was that!?" bellowed Commander Bishop as he burst into the room, the weakened door literally flying off of its hinges. Team Justice's remaining members piled in behind him.

The smoke and dust was beginning to clear, and the hunched over form of Phil became visible.

Matt dashed to his side. "Buddy, you alright!? Where is she? Did she do this to you!?"

"No…" coughed Phil, lifting one of his leathery wings. Beneath him was an unconscious Maggie, a trickle of yellow blood flowing down her forehead.

Phil had shielded her with his own body.

Maggie let out a few weak coughs and slowly elevated herself into a sitting position. Just as she did, a small figure burst into the room through the gaping hole in the wall.

"Nobody moves!" he squeaked, the orange horns crowning his head glowing orange. He was a small larva Pokémon with several small legs, white fur, and blue eyes. A Larvesta.

Though he had an unnatural feature as well. Similar to Maggie, the fur around his right eye was dyed with the same tattoo.

"How ironic," growled Commander Bishop. The Bisharp cracked his knuckles and glowered at the intruder. "Bursting into a police station and making demands. That must be a sort of poetic justice for criminals, eh?"

Maggie sighed and rolled her eyes. She held out a hand to ward off the help Phil was offering as she got to her feet.

"Molt, sweetie, stop. Before this gets out of hand." Maggie gave the commander a warm smile. "I assure you, this is all a big misunderstanding."

Phil's ears twitched, and he was directed to a quarter of the room still shrouded in dust. "I can hear you."

Molt seemed dumbfounded. "H-how…?"

The cloud burst open as the Ninjask that had been clinging to the ceiling took flight, his wings beating at hyper fast speeds. He fluttered to the ground beside Molt.

"My cover is blown, my friend. Secrecy matters not anymore." Again, the red eye tattoo was present.

Bishop ignored the miniature insurgents for a moment in favor of Maggie, who he stared daggers at. "This is no mere 'misunderstanding'. In several seconds, these two inflicted more damage than the outlaws you faced before arguably caused in several hours of a standoff! They have breached the peace, injured several of my officers, and broken a multitude of other laws. What here am I 'misunderstanding'?"

Phil steadied his glasses. "Commander, if I may? I don't feel that here, in, er…" He studied the hole, and a few small pieces of stone dislodged themselves and hit the ground. "-open air…would be the best place to explain. But the gist is that she has agreed to help us without task force, and quite frankly, I see this task as impossible without her."

Bishop growled again and clasped his hands behind his back. He couldn't simply let this go unpunished: as a champion of the law he couldn't play favorites or look weak.

On the other hand, Phil was one of the most intelligent Pokémon in town. If he said something it was with one hundred percent assurance that he was right.

Molt fidgeted. "Listen, I agree with Bats over there. This isn't the place to talk. C'mon Maggie, we gotta go!"

"You'll do no such thing!" barked Bishop.

"Agh! I don't have time for this!" The small Bug-Type skittered to Maggie's feet and looked at her with pleading eyes. "Maggie, there are people trying to kill you!"

She scoffed as if it were nothing. "Sweetie, what else is new?"

"No, different people! New people! Tell em, Kakure!"

"Indeed," the Ninjask answered in a very ninja-esque tone of voice, "Assassins are now seeking you as an additional target for your involvement in this 'task force'."

James' eyes darted about the room. "Uh…not for nothin', but…was blowing a giant hole in the wall really the best course of action?"

Molt raised a tiny arm to object, but then lowered it as he realized that the male Gardevoir had a point.

"Uh oh."

Fate truly did have a nasty sense of humor. Through the hole, atop a building, a precision Flamethrower attack was charged up and launched in Maggie's direction.

"Look out!" Molt leapt up and shoved his small body into Maggie's, pushing her back. Everyone covered their eyes as the room lit up and the heat increased briefly as the fire roared past.

Without skipping a beat, Maggie pivoted from her position pressed up against the wall and launched a volley of Energy Balls at the assassin. The shadowy figure disappeared behind the rooftop.

Bishop gestured, and two Frillish officers took off in pursuit. He then joined Team Justice and the rebels in exiting through the hole in the wall to reach where the Flamethrower had pushed Molt through the wall.

Maggie gasped and skidded to a stop. Begrudgingly she bowed her head and folded her hands. Kakure had been right behind her and perched on her shoulder as he too paid his respects.

"Oh no…" mumbled Matt, being the first non-rebel to reach the smoldering pile of orange and white mush.

As he and everybody else folded their hands and prepared a moment of silence, Molt popped out of the questionable pile. His fur was a bit singed and he was covered in the gunk, but he was otherwise okay.

"What's wrong, guys?"

"Molt, you're more trouble than you're worth," chided Maggie, reaching out a feeler to help her comrade up.

A confused Mars was drawing diagrams in the air. "Wait…he's alive, so…then what's…?"

"Darn it. I was gonna eat that pumpkin."

Standing about equal distance from the pile, previously unnoticed due to the supposed mourning was a Tropius.

Molt wiped a piece of the gunk off of his body and popped it into his mouth. His eyes perked up. "Yummy!"

"Citizen, did you happen to catch a glimpse at the assassin who fired this Flamethrower?" asked Bishop.

"Can't say I did. I was busy admiring the pumpkin I had just bought. And I'm not a citizen here. At least not yet. Name's Brute."

"Thank you for…ah…having this pumpkin to break my friend's fall," said Maggie with a smile.

"Agreed. Thank you," said Kakure.

"Yeah…sure. Either way, I'm getting' sick of these guys runnin' amuck in this town. A few days ago my…erm…friend…got attacked. Looks like you officers need to lay off the donuts a little, hm?"

Bishop's hard gaze didn't break, but as a well-tempered person who knew how to control his emotions in a time like this, he let the remark go over his head.

"I assure you, Mr. Brute, that the police is doing its best to contain the problem."

"Don't contain it. Deal with it! Used to be a guy could walk home with his pumpkin without it being incinerated before his very eyes."

James rolled his eyes. "Well, why don't you do something about it!?"

"Would if I could, sweet cakes."

"I'M A GUY!"

Matt held up a paw to calm his friend. James' shoulders remained hunched as he continued to huff. "As a matter of fact, we're putting together a task force to deal with this threat. You want in?"

Brute tilted his head to the side and thought privately for a second.

"Fine. But you owe me a pumpkin."

…

The hunt was on.

The alliance of Ricardio, Team MAX, Team Dazzle, and all of their new members wasted no time and picking a set of tracks and pursuing them into the dark quarters of the Yellow Forest.

All aesthetic value the ever autumn woods possessed during the day was gone. The skinny branches waving in the breeze spawned decrepit shadows, as well as creating a startling burst of shuffling every time the dry leaves touched.

Ricardio pounced from branch to branch, the rustling of the branches masking the miniscule sound his traveling produced.

From there it just went by baseline speed. Amy took the lead, with Didi pulling slightly ahead of Mo. Amber was behind them with Flair, and Jake lagged marginally behind with Josh in tow, the weight of their respective cone and shell keeping them back. Para-Dox headed up the rear, his massive bulk proving to be less of a hindrance than previously imagined.

Josh had to admit, the chilled autumn wind brushing up against his face felt fantastic. Exhilarating. When he returned to Quarrysville he made a mental not to make a point of doing this sort of thing more often.

In another word, he now understood what it meant to "love the chase."

Sooner than imagined, a new sound became audible. It wasn't rustling leaves or hooting Hoothoot or blowing breeze.

It was panting. They were getting closer.

They rounded another corner, and Mo caught a flash of reddish orange vanishing into a yellow bush.

"Over there!" he cried and pointed. The group altered their course.

Mo burst through the bush and fired an Energy Ball from the hip, startling their pursuant. The blast missed, crashing against the wall of the dry river bed that the Pokémon, now clearly visible as a Parasect, was heading into.

The Parasect yelped and fell on his side. He made good time scrambling to his feet, but yelped again and scuttled back when Ricardio landed in from of him.

Everyone else entered the mini canyon and surrounded him, with Para-Dox fully blocking the exit with his body and stretching their necks around to the left and right to surround him from above.

The Parasect gulped and nudged the sack of stolen goodies further behind him. Josh winced angrily as he saw his Wonder Map poking out.

The Squirtle held out a hand and flicked his fingers in a "Gimmie" motion. "We'll take our stuff back, please."

The Mushroom Pokémon looked down in defeat. Thanks to the extremely dim light that his mushroom gave off, Josh briefly caught a glimpse of the red tattoo encircling his eye.

"F-fine!" he stuttered, kicking the back forth. Amber scrambled to it and dragged it back to the blockade. "Will you let me go now?"

"I am afraid not, my friend," purred Ricardio, suavely leaning on the walls of the bank. "We wish to ask few questions about your companions."

Mo scratched his chin. "Wait a second…you're Slimy Sam! You're been jacking food shipments in Crown City for months! They've never encountered a shred of evidence to pinpoint your base of operations. I think I can figure out why…"

"Because he stages his ops from out here," said Flair, filling in the blanks. Mo nodded.

"Than if that's true…" Mo jolted like he had just realized something very important. His tail glowed green and extended in length as he readied a Leaf Blade.

A Heracross burst out of the bushes. The massive horned Pokémon alone would be enough to startle an ambushed victim, but the leek he was brandishing simply added to the startle factor.

With a swift whirl-slice, the force exerted from Mo's Leaf Blade knocked the Heracross into the walls of the bank. He bounced on the edge and landed on his back above.

Para raised his head to the sky at the sound of buzzing, and was rewarded with a String Shot that welded his mouth shut. Another burst of adhesive web, this time a Spider Web attack, bolted his neck to the ground.

A similar fate awaited everyone else as a collection of flying Bug-Types descended. Josh counted about fifteen total. Those without the capacity to perform any web attack carried a Pokémon that could do so, such as a Kakuna or a Spinirak.

Several more Pokémon burst out of the bushes, the majority of them being land based Pokémon such as Pinsir and Ariados.

Sauntering out of the bush came one more. He carried himself with an air of dignity and power. His presence didn't exactly command respect; it simply suggested respect would be appropriate.

In spite of this, all the other Pokémon acknowledged his presence with a slight bow. He was without a doubt their leader.

The Scyther stood at the top of the river back, looking down on the subdued Pokémon below. Slimy Sam sighed at the sight of the Scyther**(yay, alliteration!) **and skittered up the side, collecting the bag Amber had confiscated and presenting it to the leader.

Amber sighed. "It was an ambush…"

"You think!?" snapped Mo before focusing back on Sam. "I believe our dispute was with you, Slimy! We'll deal with your friends later!"

Dissatisfied, Sam shook his head. "If you knew why I stole, you wouldn't see me so slimy…"

"Peace, my friend," spoke the Scyther in a deep, melodic voice. "These Pokémon are misinformed, as they should be. It is not your fault."

Josh noticed that Amy and Jake were quite scared, shivering and keeping their mouths shut in the face of the unseen threat. Josh would speak for them.

"Would you mind informing us, then," he said, trying his best to squirm into a position where he could lock eyes with the Scyther. Only half of his face was visible, the left side, revealing a stunning violet eye. "You kind of robbed us blind in the middle of the night. We risked our lives for this treasure!"

"I apologize, but our information was flawed," admitted the Scyther, bowing his head. An Anorith scuttled forth. She too had a tattoo around her right eye, and was missing one of her jaw pincers.

"Sorry, boss," she sighed, "I could've sworn they were Blood Pack…"

"Do not fret, Anora. As you can see, my scout was misinformed. A rather large grouping of Blood Pack mercenaries has been grouping in a nearby mountain range, and we recently caught wind that a vanguard was sent into the forest by the higher-ups to secure the treasure within the Rocky Ruins. You beat them to it."

_Perhaps that Beedrill was a member of the Blood Pack, _thought Josh, recalling the scene from his dream. But then the Scyther said something that bucked him right back off.

"Be that as it may, the Blood Pack mercenaries came in third for the race to the treasure. A Swarm scout made it there first, and Sehren will not be pleased tonight."

The Heracross from before chuckled and rubbed his horn. "That's music to me ears!"

"You don't have ears, Krakatoa," chortled a Larvesta. A patch of fur grew over his right eye, and the red tattoo was dyed right over it. Said Heracross had a tattoo as well.

It then became apparent that they all had red tattoo's ringing their right eyes, with a jagged shape akin to a lightning bolt coming down off of it.

"Psh, you're such a killjoy, Sol."

The Scyther simply inhaled through his nostrils, and the two ceased fighting.

"So, lemmie get this straight," said Didi, the burst of emotion from the two Bug-Types giving her the drive to mouth off, "Stealing from bad guys makes it okay? So then what does stealing from us mean?"

The Scyther was silent for a moment. "We will return you belongings to you." A small outburst of disdain came from the other insectoids, but their leader raised a claw and they fell silent.

"But…we would just like you to reconsider. With the money we found, we expected to be able to feed our starving young for weeks. For reference, they are the reason Sam must steal. We currently do not have enough food and medicine to serve both our soldiers and our civilians. And sadly, we must unlawfully acquire it, as our treasuries are low as well. We attempt to liberate supplies from outlaws whenever we get the chance; this is why we pounced on the opportunity to ambush the Blood Pack.

"We are the Red-Eye Rebels. We oppose the advance of the tyrant Sehren A'terius. We fight for the liberty and freedom of our people, as well as that of the people Sehren has wronged. We simply sough to restore our stores with stolen treasure only to find that to acquire it, it had to be stolen once more. For that, we apologize."

Jake's eyes drifted from the ground to the Scyther. "Y-you can have our share. I mean, it wouldn't be fair to volunteer that of Team MAX or Ricardio, but you can have ours."

Amber nodded. "That's right. We promised that Ricardio could pick one item in return for helping us. If you could…can he do so?"

"You aren't volunteering our share, are you?" growled Mo. "That's also up to Josh, Para-Dox and I, you know."

"I know, but these Pokémon need it more than we do!"

"How do we know they aren't just some rival group of the Blood Pack? How do we even know the Blood Pack part was _true!?_"

"I suggest we give them our share," said Josh, breaking the argument.

"Hey, this is a democratic process! Who made you king?"

"You did." Mo shut up for a brief second, before opening right back up to protest. Josh would've raised a hand to stall his words, but being tied up speaking first would have to suffice.

"I understand, and I'm not doing it. I'm _suggesting _it. I just ask a few things. First, Ricardio gets his pick. Second, we talk this over and third, we get the book and the cards."

"What!?" Mo interjected, "That's all!?"

Josh squirmed so that he had a hard fix on Mo's eyes. "Listen, you entrusted me with the position to make quick decisions and not question them. Let's file this as the first instance of that." Josh sighed and tried to mumble so that only Mo could hear.

"Trust me, there's something…special about that book and those cards. I'll explain later, but I think it has something to do with my humanity and me being here."

Mo's eyes widened a bit, and he begrudgingly nodded. The Scyther nodded as well. "Kentaur?"

A bulky Scolipede came forth. "Sir."

"See to the transaction."

"Yes si-pardon me for asking sir, but why?"

He sighed. "I chose not to tell you this for operational security, and I apologize for my deception. I will be departing on a solo mission from here. Kentaur, you are in command until you return to base. See to it that they have their way with their treasure before relinquishing it. Any and all of their demands shall be met."

And then he turned his head fully, everyone taking a collective breath. His right eye with entirely red. Bloody crimson (bloody not as an interjection, but as an adjective describing the shade of red ;)). Underneath the eye, a small jagged scar of sticky red scar tissue ran down to his cheek bone.

"The Scyther with the red eye…"whispered Amber in disbelief. He was all too real. These rebels were legit.

Red-Eye spread his wings and then glistened in the pure moonlight. Just as he prepared to take off, a great explosion rang out through the forest. A massive cloud of dust rose to the east.

"Cut them loose!" demanded Red-Eye as he took to the air, "Whoever they are, I will take Kite Group to draw them off! In exactly three minutes, Spear Group A will scout ahead and #!*% an immediate threat. If once exists, Spear Group will come in force at them, while Sword Group splits in two and flanks them. Kite Group will then break off from me and join everyone else as they take the designated escape route.

"Make the transaction as speedily as possible!" Red-Eye now yelled at the non-Bug-Types being hastily untied. "I have marked a safe escape route on your Wonder Map. I suggest taking it!"

Flanked by several airborne Bug-Types, Red-Eye took off towards the cloud of debris.

…

_Note: This begins several minutes before the explosion_

Takeru poked his head out from behind the shrub, and then motioned for Arthur to follow him. The two snuck a safe distance behind Syamo, who for several hours had been carefully scaling Spike Mountain.

The task was very arduous. One slip could not only result in death, but an even smaller one could result in Syamo becoming aware to the two young Pokémons' scheme.

Night had long since fallen, and Takeru could vaguely make out lights coming from a ridge above. What appeared to be a cabin on the _side _of the mountain: the Blood Pack outpost.

It was a large, circular complex. Massive support beams dug into the side of the mountain to keep the shotty bubble of wood from taking a tumble to oblivion.

Takeru examined the path ahead, the one that Syamo had taken, and grinned. He then prepared to scale another rock path.

"Wait!" whispered Arthur, trying to separate himself from a branch his leg had snagged. "Why are we going this way? It might not be safe!"

The Dewott rolled his eyes. "_Obviously!_ If you always take the path of least resistance, you'll never get anywhere in life, dude! You need to take risks! Leave your comfort zone every once in a while."

"But I like my comfort zone. It's comfortable…"

"Just c'mon, you big baby!" Takeru tried to ease the pain of his companion by hopping back down and explaining the plan.

"So here's the deal." He roped one arm around Arthur's shoulder and pointed to the Blood Pack base. "We head up there and hide. When Syamo stars shootin' up the place with fire, there'll obviously be traps and ambushes waiting. So, when he's about to take a Poison Jab to the back, we hop out and prove ourselves!"

He struck a heroic pose. "It's foolproof!"

"Uh, Takeru," whispered Arthur, his mind and eyes elsewhere, "I think I know why Syamo took that path…"

"Oh?"

The Ralts pointed, and Takeru flinched. He tackled his friend back into the bush and held still, crossing his fingers and praying.

Further up the mountain, on a large rock spire was an Umbreon, scouting for trouble. Those things could see clearly in the dark as a normal Pokémon could during the day. Takeru wasn't surprised if there were more like him scattered all around.

That explained why Syamo was going that way. The spike was slanted, yet steep, providing the sentry with a fixed line of sight that Syamo could exploit. After a certain point, Syamo would disappear from the Moonlight Pokémon's vision.

From there, he'd be able to walk upright without being noticed, but Takeru knew he was smarter than that.

Takeru made a small window to see out of facing the Umbreon, and let out a sigh of relief. He had not been seen; the Umbreon was still surveying as if nothing had happened.

Below him, Arthur made a small window of his own. "What's going on?"

"Sh!" cautioned Takeru, "The action is about to start."

A shadow crept up behind the unaware Umbreon. Creeping along with stealth that would make a ninja jealous, a hunkered down Syamo approached his prey. His muffler was up over his mouth to mask his breathing, furthering the illusion of a deadly Shinobi.

His taloned hands lashed out and grabbed the Umbreon's face, one on his snout and one at the base of his neck.

Arthur nor Takeru could see clearly in the dark, but they were sure that the Umbreon was thrashing and doing everything in its power to break free so that it could warn its fellows.

But Syamo deprived it of that chance. He slowly twisted the Umbreon's neck at an odd angle and held it there for a moment. The Umbreon slowly went limp just as Arthur noticed an opaque circular glint.

"Phew," said Takeru, brushing sweat off of his brow whilst Syamo dragged the unconscious Umbreon away. "For a second there, I thought he was gonna light up his circles."

"Huh?"

"That's how Umbreon would've alerted the other scouts; his rings absorb and reflect moonlight. He would've lit them up, alerting his fellows without having to yell and let the attackers know they've been spotted."

Arthur nodded. "And I'll bet that Syamo'll be taking out a few more sentries so that when he attacks the base, it won't be noticed and reinforcements won't come."

Takeru flashed a grin. "Right you are. Now, let's resume sneaking up. There's a big blind spot now." The two exited the bush, but Arthur hung back for a moment.

"But wait, won't they notice the sentry is gone?"

Takeru looked up at the moon, and shook his head. "No. It's about 11:15 right now. I'm guessing they do hourly check-ins. If so, that buys us a little time. Besides, the whole 'blending with the night' thing works in our favor. They couldn't see him while he was there, so that means they won't while he's gone."

Arthur nodded once more, and the two continued their trek.

…

Silent as the spirit of death itself, Syamo crept on his third victim that night: a Banette sentry. The Marionette Pokémon hung hovering slightly over the spire it watched over, a grim sentinel attesting to the dark deeds of its master.

Had Syamo alerted it of his presence, he would've let out a screech inaudible to his own ears, but could be picked up by other sentries around the base, putting them on high alert and alerting the base itself.

But Syamo was better than that. Years of training made him a force to be reckoned with in any contest. Whether it be wits, strategy, or pure strength, Syamo had a dynamite shot at any and all.

Although the task was mandatory for surgical insertion, Syamo had to admit that stealthily incapacitating Banette was a guilty pleasure of his.

He waited for a second behind the Banette, the brightly colored rings adorning the fingers suggesting a female gendering. She scratched her head, a telltale sign of boredom and unaware.

Syamo shot forth and grabbed her, one hand on her chest pinning her against his leg. The other shot for her mouth zipper.

Since Ghost-Types did not need to breath to live, he couldn't simply deprive them of air long enough to knock them out like he had the Umbreon and Houndoom.

Instead came the fun part. The hand that had unzipped the mouth shot quickly to his pouch and procured a special Sleep Seed.

Special because when he popped it in her mouth and zipped it shut, the polymers coating the shell reacted with the saliva in her mouth, causing it to exploded and speed up its effects.

Her mouth puffed, and a small cloud of dust drifted out of her ears. Her eyelids became heavy and she slumped down in Syamo's arms.

The Blaziken dragged her back to the hallway-esque ridge carved into the mountain which lead to many of the scouting ridges on this level of the mountain.

Out from his pocket this time he produced another special seed. It was a special engineered Blinker Seed, filled with science stuff he had no inkling of understanding.

He crushed it and was quick to sprinkle the power on the Banette and not get any on himself. The mixture turned the KO'd body invisible, hiding the evidence for about an hour. He had placed the Banette on top of the unconscious Houndoom and Umbreon, both of which were out cold and invisible as well near a rock. So if someone came along and tripped, they'd assume they would dismiss the incident as a simple trip over the rock and move along.

Now, one may be wondering why Syamo simply didn't turn himself invisible and sneak in. Many a Ghost-Type, Keckleon, and other Pokémon used (and abused) the ability. Several reasons why.

First, though Syamo was better trained than that, being invisible brings on a quite visible sense of arrogance. Feeling completely undetectable when you are to not extent such goes to your head faster than you would believe, thus getting you captured in a similar manner.

Also, Syamo did in fact aim to be surreptitious in his approach, but wished to face his challengers head on. Syamo respected those who used wit and stealth to their advantage in a battle, but he was looking for a fight, not aiming to have the fight look for him.

Syamo walked back out onto the scouting ridge. He looked down at Grimlock Base, which he was directly over now.

Taking in a brief breath, the intrepid Blaziken leapt from his perch and crashed through the roof of the wooden base.

He landed in a well lit room. Maps, bounty posters, and papers sporting general information lined the walls, with chests and such piled up against them.

In the center of the roof was a large wooden table, with nasty looking Pokémon seated all around it. At its head was Jedore, the Ursurang leader of Blood Pack. She looked like a normal Ursurang, except for the white scar on her cheek.

Though she didn't look as surprised as Syamo had thought she would. Jedore actually looked quite pleased, tapping her claws together.

"Syamo," she crooned, beckoning him forth, "Would you like to sit down and have a drink? Doom Wing should be here any second now."

_Doom Wing…? _Syamo was familiar with the name. They were a reputable and feared mercenary band of Flying-Types, led by a pseudo warlord named Equinox, a Noctowl.

Doom Wing came in force, with hundreds upon hundreds of Flying-Types per squad. The entire mountain would be surrounded.

"You knew I was coming. _How!?_"

Jedore grinned. "I little birdie told me." She held out her right arm, and a Murkrow perched itself on one of her claws.

On his neck he bore a Weavile clan symbol that Syamo recognized. It represented the Vindus clan, the Weavile clan with only one surviving member.

"Lancelot," he growled. The Murkrow nodded, pleased with himself. "When I get back to Quarrysville, I'm going to gut that little weasel."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Syamo darling." While Jedore remained seated, all of the other Pokémon were getting up, their wooden chairs scraping against the floor.

Syamo bent his knees and prepared to launch forward. Once Reaper Flight arrived, it would be a matter of _when _he went down instead of _if. _And if that had to be the case, he'd take as many of these jokers down with him.

Jedore looked up and grinned. Syamo held back a growl as he realized the source of her good fortune. Already he could hear the pounding of hundreds of wings. There were so many it sounded like they were collectively beating on wood.

_Wait a second…_Syamo looked up. The repeated thumping wasn't wings…it was bodies landing on the roof!

Bewildered, Jedore whipped around to examine the window behind her. It was raining unconscious Flying-Types.

Syamo burst outside, a KO'd Zubat landing right beside him. The poor creature's purple fur smoldered, and it twitched.

"Nyehehehehe!" chortled a voice from behind Syamo. "I sees a bird, but it ain't got no wings! Can I kill it anyways, Harlequin? Please!?"

On the roof above, an impish little Pokémon stood hunched atop the building. He was brown skinned with thick, acorn-like thighs, beady eyes, a pointed nose and a leaf atop his head. A Nuzleaf.

"Hm, I don't see why not, darling," cooed another voice. Down behind him drifted another Pokémon, a Gardevoir. Her body was perfectly silhouetted by the mood, lighting up her face adorned with exquisite makeup. A glistening scarlet cape flickered in the breeze.

"The Blood Pack leadership," added another voice, this one gruff and commanding. Opposite to the roof, on one of the sentry spires Syamo had just cleared out was an Escavalier. His arms were crossed, and his helm like head was nipped at the bottom right. It was evident that he had been slashed, as a scar extended from there down to his chin.

"Never before have a seen a more pathetic grouping of whelps under one flag," he continued. "I hope that their betters present more of a challenge for me to spear."

"Gruuuuuh…" Out from the tunnel lumbered a massive Aggron, towering over the Escavalier. It roared and bashed its fists together.

"Peace, Goliath darling," sighed Harlequin in her sweet, high-class tone. "Mommy promises plenty of bloodshed."

Syamo grunted. "Nice to see you all again. I was hoping for a later date, but I guess I'll just have to kill you all now."

"HAH! Kill us!? You're daydreamin', pal!" shrieked the Nuzleaf. "We're the Fearsome Four! We eat chickens like you for breakfast! In fact, I'm feeling a little hungry right now!"

He cackled and licked his lips. The Escavalier rolled his eyes. "It is nighttime, you imbecilic."

Harlequin giggled. "Wily's temporal shortcomings and Spartan's tizzy aside, I do believe you are delusional, my good sir. No one meets the Fearsome Four and lives to tell the tale."

"Except for that one time when we ordered takeout to the cave," said Wily. Goliath growled and beat his chest.

"Oh yeah. You _did _splatter him all over the canyon wall. My bad!"

"Oh no," said Syamo, cracking his knuckles, "It was undoubtedly you I remember. I don't make it my life's mission to see four heads on a platter unless I'm one hundred percent sure that they're the right heads."

Harlequin giggled again. "Feisty." She then proceeded to lick her lips. "The feisty ones bleed out the fastest. They do love to struggle."

The Blood Packies were now filing out of the building, ignoring Syamo in favor of the four mystery Pokémon. Doom Wing Pokémon had stopped falling, suggesting that these four had driven the rest off…or they had gotten them all.

Jedore growled and clenched her claws into a fist. "I don't know what's more annoying: you killing off all of the backup I paid for, or you interrupting my meeting."

"I would then suggest delaying all plans indefinitely," cooed Harlequin, and she giggled. "You probably won't need any of those appointments when the sun rises. Just put down 'The Fearsome Four' for your current event."

Jedore let out a primal roar and raised a clawed hand, a Focus Blast forming in her paw. Before anyone could even blink, Spartan had shot down from his perch.

And in a flash, Jedore's attack was no more.

Let's just say any appointments involving her being having two arms would need to be canceled.

Again, Harlequin giggled, thrusting her cape into the wind. "Ehehehe…it's ShowTime…"

…

Meanwhile, in Quarrysville…

A male Nidoran slunk quietly down a back alley in the Quarrysville slums. After navigating the labyrinth of trash and rubble that was once a linear path between two buildings, he reached an establishment that time forgot.

It was an abysmal place, practically a ruin. The roof was completely gone, remnants of it scattered among the various chunks of stone on the ground, leaving the sky open to plain view.

The Nidoran's sensitive ears flicked as he heard the sound of wet feet sloshing on dusty stone. Out from behind a stone pillar came a Marshtomp.

The sound of clanking metal came from above. The Nidoran looked up to see a stark white Kabutops who had landed atop a metal Gurdur jutting out from stone. His scythes gleamed in the moonlight.

"Hershel," said the Marshtomp with a nod, leaning up against a support pillar. The Kabutops nodded and hopped down from the Gurdur.

"And how are you, Furtum?"

"If we nab this bounty, I think I'll be pretty satisfied." He looked down the Nidoran. "We ain't cuttin' Equinox in on this one, are we?"

"Equinox agreed to lend his help, and so we're honor bound to deal him in," squeaked the Nidoran, before rubbing his throat and scowling. "Ugh, I despise this voice."

He was enveloped in a swirling ball of purple light. When it faded, there stood a black fox Pokémon that stood aloft on two legs, an untamed mane of red hair cascading down his back and a murderous grin on his face.

"Ah, much better," he growled.

"Zavak, I admire your cunning, but should we not have taken matters into our own hands?" asked Hershel, "Much less not informing Sehren first that we've located the human _and _the Torchic."

Zavak grinned and shook his head. "Hershel, you think too much. But didja think about _this_?"

Hands clasped behind his back, Zavak began to pace back and forth. "Here's your scenario: we tell Sehren, we get paid. Sehren sends us and the rest of his guys to take down the two. End of story. Here's _my _scenario: we don't tell Sehren squat till the job gets done, I morph into an innocent little Pokémon and send them on a death mission, we don't even have to get our hands dirty, they die, we tell Sehren we found both and eliminated them in one fell swoop, he's impressed and rewards us beyond our expectations and considers us for future jobs."

Hershel scratched his chin. "Yes…Sehren is in fact known for rewarding success and revering those who can act on their own convictions and back up those actions…"

"If it means more money, I'm in," said Furtum with a shrug.

"Glad to have you all on board." Zavak rubbed his paws together and stared up at the moon. "By the time we're done, the whole world will know to fear the name of Team Nemesis."

* * *

**Our intrepid Explorers have come face-to-face with Red-Eye, the mysterious leader of the Red-Eye Rebels. However, their meeting was cut short by a massive explosion. Where is Red-Eye's "mission" going to take him? What will happen to Team MAX and Co? And it seems Syamo has stumbled across the "enemies" he's been training to fight, the Fearsome Four. Is he prepared? And it appears a new threat has been uneild, shedding light on Team MAX's first mission. Does thi give us insight on Sehren's letter? Tune in next to for the epic battle, where a few more new combatants drop by and answers are had...maybe...**

**If I haven't used your OC yet, don't worry. After a few more chapters of Team MAX, I'll be taking a break from them and doing to more sub-plots in which more OCs will be revealed. So hold on.**

**Also, none appeared in this chapter, but I have a few rebels that I can't remember who submitted them. I'll keep looking, but if I use one before I find out who sent it in, can you let me know so I can give you credit? It wouldn't be fair if I didn't**

**Brute is back! Looks like a lot of you were missing him.**

**One last thing: a while back I mentioned a story called Clashing of the Trainers by Tactic Samurai. He only needs a few more OCs to do his tournament, and I strongly urge you to support this author's first story, which seems to me like a great concept. Last I checked there's about ten spots left, so head on over there! We all know how it feels to get support for our very first story, as well as see our own OCs in one. It's a win-win!**

**So, review, fav, follow, print it and frame it on your wall, whatever you wanna do! Enjoy your Friday, people of Earth!**


	16. Chapter 16: Strike of the Fearsome Four

**Last time on Explorers of Destiny:**

**A misunderstanding leads to the rebel Bug-Types attacking the police station to rescue Maggie. After revealing that an assassin is out to get her due to her reading of the letter, Molt shields the rebel second-in-command from a sniper's Flamethrower. Molt is presumed dead until his pops out of the incinerated pumpkin of Brute, who agrees to join the proactive task force (in return for another pumpkin). Meanwhile Team MAX and Co. confront Red-Eye, the leader of the rebels, who reveals that the theft of their treasure was, once again, a misunderstanding. Red-Eye gives them the option to take back their treasure, to which Josh agrees to let them keep it all in exchange for the book and the cards. The transaction is about to come to a close when an explosion rocks the forest. Meanwhile, Syamo assaults the Blood Pack Base with Takeru and Arthur in two. Syamo finds out that Lancelot sent warning ahead to Jedore and the trapper becomes the trapped. All of a sudden, four mysterious figures knon as "The Fearsome Four" appear out of nowhere, and they mean trouble. What will happen next? Find out now!**

**Today will feature an OC from AwesomelyEpical. Enjoy!**

* * *

Howling in pain, Jedore stumbled back and slammed against a rocky wall. Completely ignoring his opponent, Spartan turned around and made his way back to the perch that he favored. Looking down on weaklings was something he enjoyed.

The Blood Packies simply watched in awe as he rolled past them, uncaring if not unaware of their vastly superior numbers.

Harlequin giggled and covered her mouth. "Oh, do scream some more. We _love it _when you do that."

Syamo growled. The talons on the bottom of his feet gripped the rocky soil tensely. _This battlefield is just their playground! It's all a big game to them! There's no way I'll be able to take them all alone. Perhaps if they'd just stayed off of my back for a while longer I would've had the time to finish my training. But now they're here._

"Pray tell, darling, how is it that you know us?" asked Harlequin, breaking Syamo from his inner thought.

"I concur in wishing to know more of your knowledge of us," said Spartan, crossing his arms. "We have an unshakable habit of not leaving any witnesses."

Wily hopped up and down excitedly. "We kill 'em all stone dead!"

"That's just it. Stone. You may think it's the most pathetic story ever. Heck, even _I _think it is.

"A while back I was hired along with a group of other mercenaries to ambush a small private army under the contract of a rival business tycoon. We didn't care who it was or why we were doing it. The money was good and we enjoyed the thrill of a good fight.

"The army was camped in the Rolling Fields, just north of here. We had to cross a small mountain ridge. Everything was picture perfect. Not a single hitch."

Syamo cringed and clenched his fists. "That is until a band of four rogues ambushed us. I would say that the ambushers became the ambushed, but that would be an understatement. It was a _slaughter_."

"You're going to have to be more specific, dear. We've been to our fair share of slaughter," cooed the sadistic Gardevoir, her makeup reflecting moonlight like the face of Death.

"Well, I survived. During the fight, Ultron 50k over there dislodged a big rock from above," said Syamo, pointing at Goliath. He snarled and snapped his jaws.

"It hit me on the head and knocked me out cold. I fell into a waterfall and your all-seeing eyes must've skipped over the six foot red Pokémon floating in crystal clear water.

"You could say I had an epiphany of sorts that day. Blood money isn't money I want, and that was that. I didn't soften up or anything. If I was gonna take folks down, I figured I might as well do it for the laughs instead of the cash. And nothing makes me laugh more than utterly ruining a good scheme."

"A fantastic bit of fiction, but there's one little flaw in your cognitive, my dear," said Harlequin with a wild grin. She slowly pointed her right index finger at Syamo. "Our plans our dreadfully impromptu. That's what makes them so _fun_! Shadow Ball!"

She let out a vicious shriek of laughter as the Shadow Ball shot from her fingertip's at the speed of sound. Syamo lowered his head in furious concentration and vanished.

Goliath and Wily were taken aback.

"Gruh?" The Aggron looked back and forth for Syamo. Wily joined him in the frantic search.

"W-where'd he go!?"

Harlequin didn't change position. She remained with her finger pointed at the spot where Syamo had stood, still smiling. Spartan simply rolled his eyes.

"Three…two…one…"

There was a loud bang and a flash. When the light faded, Syamo and Harlequin were struggling, each pressing their forearm against that of the other, each trying stubbornly to overpower their opponent.

"Aerial Ace…very clever, Syamo," growled Harlequin to the enraged yet serene face only inches from hers. For a guy facing the never-defeated murderers of his closest friends, Harlequin had to admit he had a pretty mean poker face.

But the eyes had it. They burned with fury and the desire for vengeance. Normally this would be a point for Harlequin to exploit. But something deep down inside was convincing her that he wasn't her to see this.

"Clever wasn't part of the equation," he growled and opened his mouth. A ball of fire was forming in it.

"BLAST BURN!" he shouted and launched the flaming meteor at point blank range. Harlequin grinned and blinked out of existence.

Blast Burn exploded into the ground several feet past where Harlequin had stood. The explosion sent Syamo flying back, though he managed to backflip and land on his feet.

Smaller bolts of fire flung out from the inferno's wake, scorching several Blood Packies and forcing the rest of the Fearsome Four back in surprise.

Syamo got up from his kneeling position. The second he did, Harlequin appeared behind hima dn trust her finger out. "Psychic!"

The Blaziken was flung like a rag doll into Grimlock Base, his body making a splintering crater in the wood.

Psychic pressure remained on his limbs as they were slowly bent and contorted. Harlequin squealed with joy. "Goodness me, I haven't had to move my arms this much in _ages._"

"Allow me…to give you a workout…" grunted Syamo, resisting her efforts to literally break him.

Wily with growing impatient. "C'mon, Harley! Snap him already!"

"I agree," growled Spartan, "This charlatan should pose no threat to us. In fact, if we didn't plan on destroying each and every one of them already, I might have been speculative on what others would think of our reputation once the witnesses spread this tale."

Arms outstretched, fingers bent like a puppet master, Harlequin shrugged. "I would be happy to oblige the audience. Well Syamo, this is the grand outro to your performance. To mix things up, how's about I make you bow _backwards!_"

Syamo began to slowly drift away from the base, still twitching and bending. He struggled to reclaim control of his body.

He remembered the hate. He remembered the feeling of lost. Emptiness. Those days where he had nothing on his plate and no one to turn to.

The Fearsome Four had taken everything from him. And he was about to take it all back.

"NO! BLAST BURN!" Syamo launched another gargantuan fireball at Harlequin, the entire mountainside being lit up from its light. Now released from Harlequin's grip, the force of the blast flung him back into the building, though he managed to catch himself in the hole he made.

Psychokinetic force built up in Harlequin's hands, hovering at her sides. The air around them began to shimmer. The temperature increased exponentially by the millisecond as the Blast Burn grew nearer.

The corner of her lips rose slightly as she grinned. It seemed as if everything besides the roaring fireball had grown silent.

And then she attacked. "IT'S NO USE!" Harlequin thrust her hands out, her Psychic attack cracking like a sonic boom.

The fireball stopped midair, flecks the size of bonfires raining off. The front of it was pressed back like it had slammed into an invisible brick wall.

For a moment it seemed like it could go either way. The Blood Pack waited on the tips of their toes to see who would be roasted alive. Even Spartan was unsure of the results.

Harlequin brought her arms back and thrust them out again, breaking the tie. Blast Burn was sent back at Syamo with twice the force as before.

Luckily he managed to push off of the building with his muscular legs just in time. The Super Blast Burn attack slammed into Grimlock Base with a mighty explosion.

The fountain linking it to the mountain began to crack and groan until it finally gave way. It's spherical shape allowed it to literally roll down the mountain like a flaming basketball.

Grimlock Base made a final fifty foot drop and hit the bottom, exploding in a magnificent mushroom cloud of red and orange.

In the Blood Pack crowd, a Raichu punched a Beartic in the shoulder. "I _told _you we bought too many explosives!"

Syamo brought his legs up, knees nearing his chest as he prepared to land. Wily had other plans.

Snickering, the Nuzleaf leapt into the air above Syamo. "Seed Bomb!" he shouted, spitting an explosive kernel of energy at Syamo's head.

"Gwah!" The blast struck Syamo, sending him facedown onto the ground. Struggling to get up, Syamo screamed in pain once more as he felt Spartan's lance prodding his back.

"Uh-uh-uh! My kill!" Syamo felt himself being lifted up off of the ground by Psychic once again, the rest of his body dangling as if the force was picking him up by the neck.

He drifted over to a triumphant Harlequin. Her makeup was smeared from the intense heat and she had several minor burns.

"Now darling, do you have any other last words besides _Blast Burn_?"

"How about _Razor Shell_!?"

Harlequin rolled her eyes and teleported away again to avoid Takeru's attack. The glowing blue blade slashed through empty air.

Popping a Reviver Seed into his mouth, Syamo stood up fully, his eyes expressing his complete and total disapproval of Takeru's actions.

"You shouldn't be here," he growled. Takeru shrugged it off like it was nothing.

"And let you die? Please. Plus, now you get to see what I'm really made of!"

Syamo shook his head and applied a few more cures to himself. "Kid, I can guarantee we'll _all _have seen exactly what you're made of once they're done with you. If you know what I mean."

Takeru gulped, and Harlequin reappeared next to Spartan, laughing wildly. "That is a valid point, dear. I wonder what makes a Dewott tick."

As this went on, Spartan caught something out of the corner of his eye. A green topped head with two red horns was poking out from a rock. The Ralts shivered and gasped, hiding once more.

Spartan pointed to the rock with his lance and jerked his head at Goliath. The beast ambled slowly up behind him and eyed down his target.

Behind the rock, Arthur was shivering feverously, mouth clamped over his mouth to keep from screaming in terror.

Unfortunately for him, Goliath could quite literally smell fear. Or at least the smell most Pokémon gave off when they were afraid.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!" Goliath let out a savage scream as he raised his head to the sky and charged a Hyper Beam.

…

High above, a Togekiss soared through the serene night sky. She loved the feeling of the cool wing tickling her fluffy down. Since she didn't get out much up until now, Jenna was soaking it all in as if she'd never take flight again.

On her back was a Gallade, balancing easily on one knee in the nighttime thermal currents. In his hand he had a strange, compass like device that he was studying intently.

"We're getting close."

"Huh?" Jenna turned her full attention to her passenger. "What did you say, Jerry."

"I said that we are nearing my destination. You can let me off soon."

Jerry stood up on his ride's back. He had already done so several times before and found that Jenna didn't mind. She was a very strong Pokémon and considering they were riding mainly on wind currents, not under her own power, Jenna simply left elevation mostly to the sky itself.

The Gallade stared up at the glowing moon. Up here it seemed so close, like he could reach out and feel its shining glory. But Jerry know, like many other things that seemed in reaching distance, it was thousands of miles away.

"Maybe you should get some rest."

"Huh?" This time it was Jerry's turn to be jogged out of a trance.

Jenna veered a bit to the right. "I said you should get some sleep. You've been up for three days straight staring at that thing. If we're close, what could be the harm of a few hours rest?"

A green hand went to his chin as he contemplated this. While it might be considered irresponsible to sleep at a time like this-or at any time in his case-Jerry was no fool.

There was no sense in stubbornly staying awake all night long only to be exhausted by the time he had to go about his business.

Jerry sat down cross-legged on Jenna's back. He closed his eyes and bowed his head, entering a sort of waking-sleep trance that most Psychic-Types could achieve. He'd get his rest while also being able to think clearly and awaken at a moment's notice.

And a moment's notice was all he got before a massive energy spike in the area hit him so hard he almost felt it. Jerry shot to his feet and looked over Jenna's side.

Down below him was a mountain bordering a small yellow patch of forest. A pillar of black smoke stretched up from burning wreckage at the edge of the mountain. The energy spike had come from some sort of battle going on down on the mountain.

He could also detect a very distinct energy signature. It was one of his own kind, of his own evolutionary line at least. His people were a very emotion based species.

"Let me off here," he commanded, walking out onto the edge of Jenna's wing, the latter of which had no idea what was going on.

"What!?"

"Never mind. Not enough time. Thank you for everything."

Before Jenna could even squeak out another word, Jerry dove off of her wing down to the mountain below. He tucked his arms to his side and pointed himself straight so that his fell faster.

Jenna shook her head. "I knew I should've stayed in the mailroom…"

Then like a plane breaking formation, the Togekiss dove in after him.

…

Spartan flipped around and saw two dots silhouetted against the moon. The smallest one, falling like missile pointed at the ground, flipped around and presented his legs. He touched down on a straight slope and began sliding down at sonic speeds.

It was a Gallade, who brought back his right arm, the elbow blade extending to full length. At the bottom of the slope was a rock, which he pushed off of like a springboard, arm ready to slash Spartan in half.

The Escavalier brought back his lance arm and slashed it at the intruder. Jerry used the break in momentum to flip once again and achieve his true purpose.

Wrangling Goliath like a steer, Jerry grabbed the Aggron's horns and pulled as hard as he could. Goliath's head jerked to the side, and the Hyper Beam fired at a separate mountain further down the range.

A fiery bubble blossomed in the distance, and the mountain suddenly had a new crater on its side.

Jerry landed and slashed Arthur's cover in half, picking up the Ralts by the scruff of his neck and leaping back to where Takeru and Syamo stood. Finally, he adopted a traditional Gallade fighting stance: one arm level with his eyes, the other down at his waist pointing forward.

Syamo shook his head and walked up next to Jerry. "Listen pal, I don't care who you are or where you're from. As long as you don't like them, that's good enough for me."

Jerry grunted. "I can feel the negative energy pulsating from them. It exists at their very core. They can only be redeemed through one method."

"Which would be?" asked Harlequin, raising an eyebrow.

With a _SHINK _Jerry's arm blades extended to full length. "Death."

"Listen, we need a plan," mumbled Syamo to Jerry. "I tried taking them all on by myself. I can barely handle the Gardevoir. Perhaps you could take her and use your Psychic immunity while I take advantage of my double Type advantage against the bug. The two kids could probably take the imp if they really tried."

"And the Aggron?"

"Might as well just throw Blood Pack minions at him until our schedule is a bit more flexible."

"We can hear you!" yelled the Blood Pack Raichu.

"Shut up!" Syamo called back, consulting Jerry one last time. "Sound good?"

Before Jerry could respond, Takeru did something really, really stupid. He activated his Razor Shells and charged, yelling, "Let's do this! Oh yeah!"

Syamo cringed and his hand shot you. "You fool! Get back here before you get killed!"

Adrenaline and excitement had taken control of the young Dewott, and so Syamo went completely unheard. Takeru leapt into the air, blades aimed for Harlequin.

The Gardevoir yawned, covering her mouth with one hand and launching a Shadow Ball with the other.

Takeru crossed his swords in an X shape, but that did not good. The Shadow Ball exploded against Takeru's would-be defenses, sending is scalchops skittering onto the ground.

"Oof!" Takeru slammed against a large boulder and slid to the ground, extremely injured. Licking his lips, Goliath leapt from his ledge, shaking the ground and making a small crater.

He began to charge another Hyper Beam, aimed for the defenseless Takeru.

"No!" cried Arthur. He wanted to help. He wanted to Teleport to his friend and then Teleport him back saving the both of them. But fear had seized control. Fear wouldn't let him.

Jerry took off for Takeru's position, but he knew he'd never make it in time.

As he prepared to launch his attack, Goliath's feeble mind was taken completely off task by the explosion of a small blue sphere at his feet.

Another one his him in the stomach, doing little to no damage but making him notice at the very least. Goliath looked up at the source and found himself covering his eyes as he was peppered by an increasing amount.

Rapidly descending and spinning, Jenna was launching Aura Spheres from her mouth like a Gatling gun.

She reached Takeru and without braking, grabbed him with her feet and zoomed forth. Still she didn't stop, simply dropping him back where his allies stood and continuing her arc past the mountain.

Jerry smiled and saw her off. "You didn't have to risk your life like that!"

"Hey, I just graduated from the mailroom! I haven't seen much action in my day!" she called back as he figure began to shrink on the horizon.

Goliath shook off the attack and set his sights on a new target: Jenna. Moving, but not at an angle where she'd be hard to hit. Target practice in every sense of the term.

"No!" cried Jerry, realizing that Jenna would be pegged and likely wouldn't be able to save herself if she wasn't vaporized on the first hit.

Charging for Goliath to try and stop him once again, Jerry skidded to a stop when Spartan and Wily landed in front of him, backing him up.

"Do not interfere," growled the gruff Escavalier.

"Yeah. Sit back and watch the fireworks. Nyehehehehe!"

Hyper Beam was reaching its final stages of charging. Jerry could do nothing to stop it and Jenna was no doubt too far away to be warned.

"GRAAAAAH!" The Aggron prepared to fire his death beam, when a shadow dropped from midair in a sparkling whirlwind, wrapped Goliath's face in the cape that Harlequin had flung into the wind.

Confused and off target, Goliath roared and fired Hyper Beam high above Jenna. The stranger had saved her life.

The buzzing of wings stopped as he hit the ground. A green clawed foot kicked Takeru's scalchops back to him, and the owner proceeded to where the four stood.

Wordlessly, the Scyther took a fighting stance next to Syamo, spreading his legs out and slowly running his right scythe the length of the left, sharpening them in the deadly Swords Dance attack.

No one of the other four fighters objected to his help.

"Attacking your enemy while their back is turned," chided the Scyther. "Despicable."

Harlequin was beginning to get annoyed. "Oh, well isn't this just a regular party! I don't suppose you've invited anyone else. Will the pizza delivery guy arrive accompanied by a small army?"

"Besides, with all of his scars, I highly doubt he can brag about any fights."

The Scyther grunted and blinked his blood red eye. "The sharpest swords are forged in the hottest fires."

Wily scratched his head. "I don't see no swords…"

While the Nuzleaf looked down puzzled, Red-Eye shot forward, so fast that most eyes would've deemed him invisible. In reality, an Agility attack had given him the necessary speed.

Had Spartan not intervened, Wily's head would have been removed. Two blade appendages clashed, and Red-Eye gave a mighty flap of his wings and propelled himself back to where he had started.

"Who are you to chastise us about fighting dirty when you would pull that?" asked Spartan, shaking off his numbed lance. Red-Eye had stuck a precise joint, the Escavalier equivalent of the funny bone.

"I simply struck first. You struck back."

Harlequin regained her lost composure and giggled. "Speaking of which-" She stretched out her arm and launched a Focus Blast from her fingertips. The blue ball of energy sailed into the night. There was a second delay before the explosion.

Arthur and Takeru gasped. Red-Eye cringed and used another Swords Dance.

"I must say I'm intrigued," said Spartan, lowering his defenses to a degree noticeable only be Red-Eye. Though it wouldn't allow him a strike like he had set for Wily. "Usually, Swords Dance is used by those who wait for an opportunity to open. But you struck first."

"There are two types of Pokémon that wait: tacticians and fools."

"So you're saying that you aren't tactical, and instead just a fighter?"

"I never said you could not be two things."

Spartan lowered his gleaming metal head and charged. "Iron Head!" He shot at Red-Eye like a cannon bolt. Utilizing another Agility, Red-Eye spun around him and avoided the attack.

The second his rotation was finished, Red-Eye's wings unfolded and he propelled himself at Harlequin. The two began exchanging blows, each matching that of the other.

Spartan landed and flipped around, preparing to attack Red-Eye from behind. Though he was forced to block a Blaze Kick from Syamo. The two then engaged each other.

Jerry nodded to Takeru and Arthur, taking off himself. His blades extended, he leaped into the air to strike at Goliath.

That left only Wily. Eager to prove himself once more, Takeru activated his scalchops and started in pursuit. However, he skidded to a stop and looked over his shoulder.

"Arthur, you coming?" The nervous Ralts simply stared at the ground and didn't respond. He was scared out of his wits. In his opinion, these Pokémon were throwing their lives away. There was no way they could win.

"I-I…I…" He felt Takeru's warm paw on his shoulder, and looked up into his eyes, equally as welcoming.

Takeru put his other paw on Arthur's other shoulder. "Come on. I can't do this without you. Together, we can do anything."

Arthur gulped, then nodded. "Okay. Let's do this."

* * *

**Red-Eye to the rescue! And by that logic I suppose Jerry and Jenna came to the rescue as well. And kinda Takeru...But anyway, after an intense struggle, the current standings are Red-Eye vs. Harlequin, Syamo vs. Spartan, Jerry vs. Goliath, and Takeru and Arthur vs. Wily (with the remainder of the Blood Pack just kinda hangin out). Tune in next week for the thrilling (and shocking) conclusion to this epic battle!**

**Okay, I'll try not to gush too much right now with this author's note, but I have to! The new Avengers movie title has been dropped. It is ****_Avengers: Age of Ultron_****. I love Ultron SOOOO much! He's one of my favorite Marvel villains and for the longest time I was complaining bout how it was most likely gonna be Thanos next (who will instead be in Guardians of the Galaxy, which I also love). I could rant for a while about those two subjects, but I'll spare you...this time.**

**But seriously, Mark Gruffalo fans beware: Hulk usually dies first in these Ultron ordeals.**

**Finally, I've got a few more pieces of trivia you may find interesting. Here you are!**

**#4: In the first draft of Chapter 10, Erin dies, mortally wounded by Lancelot at the bar**

**#5: In the first draft of Chapter 15, Jedore dies, mortally wounded by Spartan**

**#6: In the first draft of this chapter, Grimlock base was destroyed, but in a different way. Syamo lured Harlequin inside where he activated a Null Orb, which stripped her of her powers until she takes damage. Syamo then lit the base on fire and escaped, leaving Harlequin inside. Though he thinks that the explosion killed her, Harlequin managed to Teleport out by abusing a loophole in the Null Orb (pinching herself counted as taking damage). **

**So, I'm hard at work with the next Eterna Academy chapter. I'd say perhaps Sunday it'll be out. Until then, I'll see you around! Please review and go see Age of Ultron in 2015. You will be happy both ways ;)**


	17. Chapter 17: Omen

**Last time on Explorers of Destiny:**

**The battle with the Fearsome Four kicked off! Jedore, leader of the Blood Pack, was taken out of the fight almost instantly. Syamo hatched a bleak and desperate plan to take down the Four, thus revealing that the "enemies" he was training to fight were in fact them. Jerry, a Gallade warrior, dropped in on the fight (quite literally) to lend a hand, along with his courier friend, Jenna the Togekiss (who was then mercilessly shot down by Harlequin). The side of justice was bolstered once more by Red-Eye, the enigmatic leader of the Red-Eye Rebels, attracted to the fight by the explosion of Grimlock Base. Their forces divided to each face a specific enemy, the fight continues!**

* * *

Red-Eye's feet slammed down onto the ground, the pressure his body packed with it from the momentum turning up a small crater. The Scyther brushed a few flecks of blood from his cheek and zoomed back into the fray, wings beating furiously.

Up in the air above him, Harlequin cackled manically, wiping some purple blood off of her own face. Palm open, she thrust her hand at the rising Red-Eye, a Focus Blast forming.

She launched it. And then another. The Focus Blasts kept coming and coming. But Red-Eye skillfully managed to dodge them all and negate his opponent's advantage of a higher ground.

He crossed his scythes in an X shape, a blue hue toning the edges. "X-Scissor!" he bellowed, slashing them at Harlequin, who vanished in a flicker. Red-Eye slashed his claws at nothing.

Out of any Bug-Type he had ever encountered, nay, and _opponent_, Red-Eye had been able to out speed them.

This bunch was different. Their…everything dwarfed all else he had ever seen. Speed, strength, cunning, ruthlessness. Like demons straight from the darkest, dankest pits of the Distortion World.

And so Red-Eye had been the fastest. Up until now. It seemed almost like he was moving in slow motion while she swam through time like a Water-Type in the ocean.

Red-Eye knew she'd strike from behind. He also knew she'd out speed him in his turning around.

Which she did. Red-Eye was mid turn when Harlequin materialized out of thin air and wrapped her thin yet powerful arms around him, restraining the rebel's entire body.

Harlequin squeezed Red-Eye around to that he could see the vile smirk on her face. Her right arm rose, and the clenched fist crackled with electricity.

"You know, I hear that you rebels are quite low on food. In that case, help yourself to a Harlequin Brand Knuckle Sandwich, Thunderpunch Flavor!"

Her cackle tore through the night sky. "Bon appetite!" Electrifying someone from the inside out was always one of the Gardevoir's favorite means of killing a person. Plenty of screaming and squirming. Harlequin loved it when they did that. Plus the intoxicating aroma that drifted upwards from the corpse after a fine cooking…exquisite.

But Red-Eye wasn't like her normal customers. His wings straightened on his back and gleamed. "Air Slash!"

At a distance, he would've created razor sharp vortexes of pressurized air that could cleanly remove a limb. With his proximity to Harlequin, they exploded into a plume of air that managed to separate the two.

Both spun through the air, righting themselves at about the same time. Neither wasted a millisecond in charging back.

Had the focus of both combatants not been as razor sharp as Red-Eye's scythes, they might've been distracted by the Hyper Beams misfiring around them like fleeting spotlights.

Jerry was proving a very hard target for Goliath. In the moments they had spent dueling the monster proved to rely solely on brute strength and nothing more. No tactics. Nothing. Even its animalistic instincts seemed to be dampened by its lust for blood.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHR!" Goliath proclaimed to the sky. He bashed his fists together and stomped his feet, a strange white glow emanating around him.

_Automize, _identified Jerry, taking the moment to gather his strength. _His speed will now be doubled. I wouldn't call it strategy though: he's simply trying something different because all that other nonsense didn't work._

Jerry caught himself smirking as he let out a short and grim laugh on the inside. _Then again, isn't that what _all _strategy boils down to?_

The power up finished, Goliath raised his horns to the sky once more. The gleamed and launched a silver bolts of energy at Jerry. The Gallade leapt out of the way just in time to avoid the Flash Cannon.

Coming up from the roll onto his knee, Jerry realized that his speed advantage was all but gone now. Staying at a distance had been his countermeasure for avoiding that brute strength Goliath no doubt possessed. Now it seemed his only chance was to take the fight right to him.

_On the bright side, _he thought to himself, _He won't be trying to dodge, now will he?_

Jerry extended his right elbow blade. "Psycho Cut!" he yelled, leaping forward. The blade began to shimmer rainbow colors.

The first slash glanced off of Goliath's polished skin. He had raised and arm to protect himself. The second cut at thin air. Goliath had leapt right over him.

_Agh! Impossible! _Jerry watched in shock as the Aggron landed behind him without so much as driving a few rocks further into the ground. _This beast had crushed entire boulders by simply shifting its feet before! How…could I be so stupid! Automize halves his weight!_

"GROOOOOOOOAR!" Utilizing his newfound speed, Goliath took off for Jerry, fist poised for a punch. Realizing that a dodge would be futile, Jerry ran straight at him, jumping off of his face like a springboard and landing behind him. He had no fear for being struck in the attempt; after all, speed and reflex were two entirely separate things.

Goliath slammed his fist into the wall, reducing the entire rock shelf into a loose pile of rubble. _Well, it seems that his drop in weight hasn't at all impaired his overall power. I'll still be in for a wallop if I get hit._

_SHINK! SHINK! _Both of Jerry's blades came out and he took a fighting stance. _Regardless, I must fight on. The Council's will must be carried out!_

Crossing both arms for a strike, Jerry and Goliath clashed with a _CLANG._

A similar sound emanated off of Takeru's scalchop as he blocked another volley of Bullet Seed from Wily. The Dewott was beginning to huff and puff as the battle took its toll on his small body.

"Arthur…tag in…"

Hiding behind a rock, Arthur poked his head out and shook it. "My attacks won't do any good," he whispered, shivering simply at the sight of Wily. "Besides, if I stay over here and heal you when you get weak, we can keep this up until he can't!"

Arthur felt a shadow fall over him, and shrieked as he noticed Wily standing behind him in his peripheral vision.

The imp's face was a mix of cheer and murderous intent. His pointed nose was scrunched and contorted, his yellow eyes ablaze.

"What's the matter, eh? You don't wanna play?"

Backing up in fear, Arthur tripped over a small rock and fell on his back. Wily loomed over him, instilling even more fear in the smaller Pokémon.

"C'mon! Let's go play!" In a most legendary turn of events, Wily reached down…and offered Arthur his hand. Arthur studied it like it was a quandary of science.

"Y-you mean it?"

"Course I do!" he said with a smile, "That's what friends is for, right?"

Arthur swallowed and clasped Wily's hand, only to be flung onto his back behind the Nuzleaf. He let out a bark of laughter.

"Isn't this _fun_? Aren't you having _fun!?_ Nyehehehehehe!"

Takeru jolted like he had been punched in the shoulder blades. "No! Water Pulse!"

Wily leapt out of the way, acrobatically landing atop the rock Arthur had been standing on. Takeru was getting very tired of this guy, very fast.

"Rock Smash!" he yelled, his fist charging up with orange energy. He plowed it into the rock with storm force, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

His perch shattered, Wily fell to the ground amidst the hailstorm of rocks. He sat up and was immediately plonked on the head with a stone.

Wily's head began to twitch. His fists clenched and his shoulders hunched. "Why are you hurting me...? You're mean! Really mean! And I! DON'T! LIKE IT!"

He flew into a blind rage, flinging his arms all about in his rampant tantrum. "Bullet Seed!" he shrieked, belting a defenseless Takeru.

Just as Takeru felt like he couldn't take anymore, he felt a small hand touch the small of his back. Then there was the sensation like he was being dragged through a freezing cold tunnel, the lack of heat caressing every inch of his body.

Dizzied, Takeru stumbled back and slid down a rock face. Arthur stood before him, panting.

"Sorry I…I didn't warn you about that…"panted the Ralts. As his head began to slow its spinning, Takeru crawled to the edge of the small ledge Arthur had Teleported them to. Wily was just now ceasing his Bullet Seed, seeing as his "playmates" were gone.

"Wha!?" he cried, looking around frantically. "Where'd they go!? Aw, no fair! No fair no fair NO FAIR!" Wily stomped up and down for a few minutes before stalking off elsewhere.

Takeru sat back and sighed, being overtaken by a heavenly sensation. Arthur's palms were on his friends back, an orange aura emanating all over Takeru's body.

Arthur finished the Heal Pulse and stepped back. "Well? What do you say we take him by surprise and finish this mess up?"

Wiping some spit off of his chin, Takeru winked. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

The two friends' hopefully resolution was interrupted by a terminal wave of heat that bore down on top of them, physically forcing them to move. Arthur grabbed onto Takeru's arm and spirited them away.

Spartan landed on a rocky outcropping and quickly leapt to another, avoiding Syamo's next Blast Burn. The Blaziken seemed insistent on launching the solar heaps at Spartan even though his speed made them entirely irrelevant.

This time Spartan landed on a wall and pushed off, launching himself towards Syamo.

"Mega Horn!" he declared, the spike atop his helm straightening and glowing blue.

"Blaze Kick!" yelled Syamo, his foot bursting into flame. The two combatants drew into attacking range. For one of them.

Syamo slammed his foot into Spartan's gut, sending his Escavalier opponent spiraling up. However, Spartan recovered and flipped around as he continued to rise and prepare for a downward strike on the dismount.

But Syamo had other plans. The second he landed he bounced back towards a wall and began to run up, yes _up _it. His legs moved so fast that he was able to scale the vertical plane.

Reaching a point above Spartan, Syamo kicked off and soared above him. "Blast Burn!" Another smoldering ball of death hurtled down to Spartan, ready to fry him to a crisp.

"Protect!" Spartan crossed his lances over his head as a bubble of blue energy formed around him. The Ultimate Fire-Type Move pushed him down to the ground, though the shield held.

Fires burned intensely for a moment more but then faded. Spartan released his shield and glared up at Syamo.

"Does this nonsense have a purpose?" he asked grumpily like the entire battle was a simple inconvenience. "You seem to be quite intent on draining your energy. How is that working out for you?"

Syamo huffed and puffed. "Not gonna lie…I'm doing a pretty good job…"

Spartan shook his head and spat on the ground. He prepared for a bit more taunting of the weak, but a sound at his feet alerted him to something more: sizzling. His saliva actually _sizzled _when it hit the ground.

And that's when he noticed. Everywhere around him, every rock, every overhang, every spire…it was all smoldering. Heat shimmered as it rose up from the ground. Molten rock was everywhere.

"What's the matter, Spartan?" chided Syamo. It was his turn for taunting. "C'mon. Hop right back up here like you're so accustomed to. Oh, wait."

He pawed the ground around him with his foot. "That's right! Only one of us is immune to heat! So-"

Syamo hopped down from his perch and began to walk towards the one solid circle of ground that Spartan stood on, which had been made possible from his Protect.

"-it looks like you're run out of place to, well, run."

Enraged, Spartan slashed his lance through the air. "Run? The mighty Spartan does not _run_!"

"Does the mighty Spartan talk in the third person when he feels trapped?" mocked Syamo stopping a mere ten feet from his trapped opponent.

Enough was enough. Spartan let out a roar and leapt forth. "X-Scissor!" he bellowed, crossing his lances. A simple sidestep was enough to carry Syamo out of harm's way.

Just how hot was the ground, you may be asking. Enough to make a hardened, emotionless warrior like Spartan howl in pain.

Seeing no other option his leapt up the rock wall before him, stabbing his lances into the wall to climb. This was the only tolerable spot he could find.

But it was no place he could fight from. Aside from Protect, Spartan had no attacks that could benefit him at a distance except for maybe deflecting projectiles. And that would accomplish nothing. Syamo wasn't that type of enemy to simply stand around while his own attacks were sent back at him.

_Take the battlefield from me, will you? _he hissed inside his head. _Then I'll simply take it back!_

"Goliath!" he bellowed at his ally dueling with Jerry to the right.

"Gruh?" said Goliath, turning in the direction of Spartan's voice. He completely ignored Jerry's next Leaf Blade to the face, which didn't faze him in the least.

"Use Earthquake! Destroy this mountain! If we cannot crush our opponents, these rocks will!"

The five who opposed the Four collectively gasped.

"D-destroy the m-mountain?" stuttered a terrified Arthur.

"I see your evil knows no bounds," growled Red-Eye.

"You fools! You'll be killed along with us!" bellowed Syamo in a fit of rage. "How do you expect to escape?"

Harlequin appeared next to Spartan. She put a palm on his head and vanished, the two of them reappearing behind Wily. Takeru growled and hurled a scalchop at Harlequin, but the three Pokémon had vanished by the time it would've struck her.

Three of the Fearsome Four reverted from Teleport high atop on a mountain ridge, a place yet unscarred by the battle. That left Goliath below, who was already stomping the ground violently and roaring.

The entirety of the Blood Pack (at least those who stuck around) gasped and began to nervously chatter as the first boulders began to rain down. Precipices and ledges began to crumble and fall as the mountain itself fell apart.

Jerry leapt down to where Arthur and Takeru stood, avoiding a massive pointed boulder impaling itself into the flat where he had stood.

Red-Eye fluttered down above them. "I suggest you all flee. There is nothing left to accomplish here."

"Like heck there is!" Takeru yelled back, his paws balled into fists. "These jerks have to pay!"

"Pay for what?" asked Syamo, sliding down a rocky slope to them. "They haven't done anything to you."

While Takeru struggled to push out an answer, everything around Arthur seemed to isolate itself for a brief moment as he heard a voice inside his head.

_Hmph. If only that were true…_

"If what were true?" Arthur asked Jerry. The Gallade creased his eyebrows at the quandary.

"Pardon me? I didn't say anything."

Takeru was finishing his thought. "Erm…they, uh…they…"

He received a prompt slap upside the head from Syamo, who received a less painful stare in return.

"Regardless, I agree we need to make sure these monsters don't leave this mountain. I do believe that we should put these jokers down."

Jerry nodded. "Seconded."

All seemed to be in agreement save for Red-Eye, who shook his head disapprovingly. "Gentlemon, carrying out this fight would be pointless. From my standpoint I can clearly understand and embolden the term _live to fight another day._ Although you do possess great skill, the chances of you escaping these enemies _and _the crumbling mountain are marginally slim."

Syamo grunted. "No one said you had to stick around."

Red-Eye nodded. "Quite. It has been an honor fighting by your side, but I am afraid I have more pressing obligations. I do hope that our paths cross again, though not in the Afterlife."

With that Red-Eye retreated into the darkness of night, flying towards the patch of darkness over the Yellow Forest not lit up by direct moonlight or the still blazing fire of Grimlock Base, which was luckily hugging the base of the mountain and its surrounding rocky areas, thus preventing any forest fires.

"I wonder if we _will _see that guy again…"pondered Takeru.

Arthur gulped. "I wonder if we'll see the light of day again! Look out!"

The foursome narrowly missed another giant stone that could've easily crushed them all. A smaller one, one that could perhaps crush Arthur, accompanied it.

Jerry pulled the two smaller Pokémon in close and sliced the other rock in half, the two halves landing next to them.

Syamo took note of this and turned his back on them. "You, Gallade, get them out of here. I'll finish this."

A shrill cackle cut through the cracks and groans of Spike Mountain falling apart. Harlequin raised her glowing hand and pointed it at the four.

"Actually, I am afraid that _I _will be finishing this. You can have the next one." She giggled. "Oh, wait. Never mind!"

Laughing sadistically, she launched the Focus Blast. The ball of blue energy darted between the gigantic boulders falling like rain and exploded on Syamo and the others' rocky platform.

A large cloud of dust prevented Harlequin from reaping any pleasure from visual confirmation of her results, but silence gave her the gist of it.

"So," she said to her associates, "Should we depart or should we stick around to hear their screams?"

"I think we should stay and wait for you to finish your own work," growled Spartan. Puzzled, Harlequin looked back over the edge and gasped.

It was Syamo. He was leaping from falling rock to falling rock, nostrils puffing and eye narrowed in angry determination. He ascended this most odd staircase with ease, having to run a few steps on some larger rocks before jumping to the next.

Preparing to blow him away for good Harlequin noticed the dust cloud fading, revealing that Jerry, Takeru and Arthur were somehow perfectly fine.

_One more shot should do for them, _thought the murderous Gardevoir as she raised her hand once more. _Then I'll remind that filthy bird that his people are flightless for a reason._

A massive paw gripped her arm, restricting its movement. Jedore was alive. And very, very angry.

With her new handicap she knew that there wouldn't be much she could do, even if she did escape. Instead of leading her organization further, she'd ensure it had a path to walk.

"Oh," Harlequin sighed, "You're still alive, eh?"

"Darn right I am!"

"You realize I'm going to blow you into a thousand tiny pieces, right?"

Jedore snarled. "Darn right I do…but that's not why I'm doing this." Jedore leaned her head so that she could see Arthur. "Hey, kid!"

Arthur tentatively stepped out from behind Jerry. "Y-yes?"

"You need to get out of here, kid, and make sure that people know what's going on! You have to spread the word that the Fearsome Four has returned so that these monsters can be stopped before it's too late!"

"Wait, why are you doing this?" asked Takeru.

"I may be bad, but I'm not so conceited that I can't read in between the lines! I'm instructing you to make sure that this world is protected so that my men have a world to wreak havoc in, okay! The Fearsome Four is bad news and you have to tell-ACK!"

Without even tossing a glance back, Harlequin placed a hand flat on Jedore's stomach and launched at Focus Blast. The Ursaring slammed against the wall. A few gurgles escaped her throat before she slid to the ground.

"Well," said Harlequin, flexing her fingers. "That's enough of that."

A maelstrom of ranged attacks swept over the Fearsome Four, launched by the remaining Blood Pack members enraged by the death of their leader.

Strong as they were, the Four were forced onto the defensive by the sheer force of the assault. Thus giving Syamo even more time to ascend.

He was in the home stretch now. A great empty air field, clear of any falling debris, lay before him. The next rock he leapt off of was his last. Syamo now sailed upward towards the Fearsome Four.

Two clawed hands were brought down to his waist, a blue ball of energy forming in them. Sailing skyward still, Syamo waited one split second…and then fired.

"TAKE THIS!" he roared, launching the enormous Focus Blast. The blast shot towards its intended target.

Shielding her eyes from a Swift attack aimed at her face, Harlequin noticed the attack and spoiled its surprise. _Hmph, did he really think that would-_

Then she noticed its true intended target. Not them, but the ledge _they were standing on! _Syamo wasn't trying to blow them up! He was trying to bury them along with everything else.

Harlequin hesitated for a moment to build dramatic tension and get Syamo's hopes up. Then she struck.

"A good show of rising action, darling," she cooed, tapping one of her earrings with the back of her hand. Palms splayed outward, she stopped the Focus Blast dead with a Psychic.

"Here's the climax…"

Syamo flipped around, presenting his feet instead of his head while still rising. The Blaziken pushed off of a rock and now shot down, arms tucked to his side to become more aerodynamic and maneuverable. Using this to his advantage, he slipped in and out of debris fields as he descended.

Slowly moving her hand to the side, the Focus Blast was split into ten smaller balls of energy. Each as deadly as the original.

"And now, the falling action."

Sweeping her hand across once more the orbs were all sent down in order from left to right, but then scrambled for a better chance of hitting the target.

Arthur and Takeru were forced to shield their eyes as all of the orbs simultaneously culminated their grand outro in a massive blue explosion. Smaller smoking pieces of rock began to rain down.

Arthur squinted, trying to pick out Syamo amidst the ever falling field of rubble. He gasped hopefully as he caught sight of the Blaziken's shape…

…and lost hope once he noticed it was limp and falling, feathers burned.

"Jerry, you've gotta-"

Jerry needed no coaxing. He shot into the air with insurmountable speed, catching Syamo mid fall. But that wasn't the only thing he caught: a smack on the head from a large boulder.

He plummeted to the ground, landing with a quite unsettling crack. Jerry did not move.

"No!" cried Takeru, running over to the unconscious twosome. Arthur went to join him, but something stopped him dead in his tracks.

Directly above was a cluster of mighty boulders, and they were falling fast. Words tangled themselves making their way out of Arthur's mouth, resulting only in a squeak and a choking noise.

"L-look out!" he finally managed. But it was too late. The first boulder landed with a great crunch right to the left of Takeru, alerting the Dewott to his imminent demise. The next found its mark on Takeru's head, significantly smaller than the first but enough to knock him out cold.

Arthur fell to the ground and folded his hands over his head, screaming and bracing himself for the worst.

Then, all he knew was darkness.

High above, Harlequin smirked and giggled. "And that, folks, is your resolution. End scene."

…

Sight returned to Arthur, but it was nothing to brag about. Though impenetrable, the darkness before him was swirling and duplicating rocks like no dizziness he had ever experience before.

"Ugh…I should've let those Sableye make off with my wallet…" he groaned, "None of this would've ever happened if I had just been a good sport about getting mugged…"

The pain became too great, and Takeru fell to the ground, clutching his head. His hands felt a large bump atop his cranium.

"Or I can just kill Takeru…"

He gasped. "Takeru!" Shooting to his feet, he finally took inventory of his surroundings.

Arthur had gone on thinking that this wasn't his lucky day. He was beginning to consider. The falling rocks had cocooned him and his comrades in a dome of rock and debris. They were safe.

Not crushed at the very least. Takeru, Syamo and Jerry all lie in an unconscious heap. There was absolutely no way Arthur would be able to Teleport them out. He doubted he could take himself clear of the rubble, let alone any of them a safe distance.

Straining what little energy he had left, Arthur first pulled them off of each other. First Takeru, then Jerry, which left them lying in a neat row of three.

His next step was to take inventory. On him, there was no such thing. Shadows were not his ally that day either, for if any supplies had escaped destruction and were lying on the floor, Arthur could not see them.

Frisking his companions yielded some success. He found a torn Commando Band from around Jerry's neck, a squashed Oran Berry from Takeru, and two Eyedrop Seeds and the powdered remains of an orb from Syamo.

While the Commando Band was useless, what remained of the Oran Berry could provide nourishment, and popping one of the Eyedrop Seeds in his mouth immediately allowed Arthur to see in the darkness. He'd save the other for later.

Next, he made sure that he wasn't putting the cart before the Rapidash. Distributing his energy as best he could into three Heal Pulses, Arthur managed to get a faint pulse and sparse breathing from all three of them.

He then managed to coax a bit of Oran Berry into each of their mouths for a bit of sustenance and energy, before eating a tad himself. The Commando Band proved useful then after all; Takeru was able to wrap what remained of the berry and his other Eyedrop seed inside.

Arthur plopped down and leaned up against the rocks, the faint yet melodic breathing of his comrades relaxing him. Arthur realized he had remained calm and taken charge all by himself. For the first time that evening, fear did not swim through his veins.

That all changed in the fraction of a second. Dust and a few pebbles fell down in the tiny cavern as four sets of feet walked over it.

Arthur found a small peephole in the rocks and looked through it. Not too far away was a yellow tree line: the rockslide had carried them down to the base of the mountain.

A lithe, slender shadow dropped a few yards before Arthur's line of sight, and a smaller one next to it. Harlequin and Wily.

Behind them rolled in a medium sized one: Spartan. Goliath slammed down right in front of Arthur's peephole. The Ralts leapt back in surprise, hands clamped over his mouth as the only viable countermeasure against screaming.

Harlequin giggled and stretched. "My, that was fun. Haven't had that much of a workout in quite some time."

"Yeah," snickered Wily, "You know what they say: the bigger they is, the more guts they splatter on the wall. Nyehehehehehe!"

Spartan groaned. "Imbecile…"

"Well, everyone is dead. We might as well move on," sighed Harlequin delightfully. "Those Blood Pack ninnies were a satisfying bunch. I just _adore it _when they get mad!"

_She killed…all of them!? _Although he had just spent a great deal of time collecting himself, Arthur felt the simple presence of these malevolent beings would tear him back to pieces.

"I concur. While this was enjoyable, we must move on to business. That human isn't busy killing itself, so I suggest we get to just that."

_A human…in our world? _Arthur's mind swam with questions, but all of them, along with his livelihood, were put on hold when a still unconscious Syamo let out a brief dry cough.

Back outside, Harlequin flinched. "Did any of you hear that."

Just in case, Arthur dashed over to Syamo's still unconscious form and clamped his hands over the Blaziken's mouth.

_It was nothing, don't worry about it! _he chanted inside of his head, as if he were Harlequin's conscience coercing her to believe him. _It was just the wind knocking over a rock or something! Just move on, it won't bother you. Just move on…_

Arthur held his breath and willed everyone else to hold theirs. A brief moment of unadulterated silence ruled the air…before a massive explosion rocked the ground.

Arthur braced himself for the cold night air to lash his back as his rocky cover was blasted away and the Fearsome Four finished him off once and for all.

Instead, the shaking stopped in his small cave. Outside, he heard the sound of Harlequin's wicked laughter silhouetted against the sounds of nervous caws and flapping wings.

"Oh, I _do _enjoy doing that!"

"Harley, look! An Archen! Don't see those much nowadays, now do ya?" squeaked Wily.

"Enough playing with the birds!" snapped Spartan. There was a loud metal clang, and then a yelp from Wily. "Let's get moving."

From there on, the only sounds were the fading parade of footsteps from the Fearsome Four. And then silence. Sweet silence.

Muscles aching and drenched in sweat, Arthur flopped onto the ground once more. Crisis averted.

Seeing nothing else to do at the moment, Arthur found the most comfortable spot he could on the rocky ground and curled up to get some rest.

His eyes burned as a bright light exploded near him. Eyes squinted, he gawked at the floating ball of blue light before him.

"Wha-"

The ball hung in midair for a second, and then drifted downwards. It slunk through a small hole in the rocks, the light it cast chasing after it.

Whatever came over him next Arthur had no idea. The compulsion to follow it swept through him. And so he found himself on his hands and knees, crawling through the tiny tunnel.

"Hey! Wait up!" he called to the ball, drifting through the tunnel ahead of him. Suddenly, the ball's light blinked out.

Arthur hastened his pace to find out what had happened. He eventually reached the end of the tunnel and crawled out. He stood in an even longer tunnel, but this one was different.

It was made of pure what stone, and was perfectly cylindrical. It had to be at least fifteen feet tall and forty feet wide, designed for beings far larger than Arthur.

Where he stood was lit up, but Arthur saw no glowing ball. The tunnel was completely clean of anything but air, leaving no places to hide except…

Just as he flipped around, the ball of light zipped towards Arthur, twirling around him and dizzying him considerably. The Ralts had trouble holding down his Oran Berry.

And so the chase resumed. Well, now it was more of a "Follow the Leader" game. The ball was dart ahead a good dozen yards or so, lighting up Arthur's path. It would then wait for him to catch up before zooming ahead to repeat the process.

He walked for hours. Arthur followed the ball for so long, time eventually meant nothing. But he didn't get hungry. His feet didn't get tired. He didn't want to stop. Whatever this ball was, the light it was casting on him wasn't just light.

Finally, he reached a gargantuan circular chamber. In a flash, everything faded to white. Not the pure white of the walls. This time, everything was paper white as far as the eye could see.

Perfect lighting was present, and the ball was nowhere to be seen. Arthur ran forward a bit, but there was absolutely no change ins scenery.

_Finally. You have arrived, _boomed a deep, foreboding voice. Arthur's eyes darted back and forth. The voice seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"W-what are you?" stuttered Arthur. Something made him fear this being even more than the Fearsome Four.

_What I am is irrelevant. _Who _I am should be your main concern._

Arthur swallowed, feeling some pain from his bone dry throat. "Okay. _Who _are you?"

Silence. Then, _I am Sytheriss Mehrunes Khan. For eons I have awaited the coming of the one who would finally be able to rebuild my book._

"Y-you're book?"

_Yes. The Didactium. _Before Arthur appeared a mighty and whether tome. The torn brown cover was inscribed with great golden runes that he could not recognize.

_Long ago, its great pages were scattered. Its secrets lost. But you can rebuild it for me._

"Why?"

_Why? Before I answer you that, riddle me this: why would one turn down limitless power?_

Arthur was baffled. First this human business, and no he was being asked to rebuild some dusty tome by a disembodied voice in exchange for limitless power?

"What would I do with limitless power?"

Khan growled. _Your questions irritate me. I prefer for those I chose to wield my book to forge their own path, but fine. You are a lost soul. I will set you right._

Two near transparent images appeared before Arthur. One was a Gallade. The other was a Gardevoir. His parents.

_Thirteen years ago, rumors of dissidents having escaped from beyond The Gate spread to Crown City. Taking preemptive action against another war, a response team was sent forth._

_The two Pokémon Thena and Ralltor were among them. Your mother and father._

The images began to move. The Gallade began to swing his blades back and forth, battling invisible enemies, pointing and moving his mouth as if giving orders. His mother clasped her hands together to perform a Protect attack, but was sent flying backwards.

_You have a greater history with the ones known as the Fearsome Four than your realize. _

As if that had been the cue, Spartan entered his father's image and speared him through the gut. Arthur's dad got off on Leaf Blade to Spartan's head before being shaken off, out of the image. Spartan pounced.

Arthur's mother was grasped by Harlequin around the neck. Harlequin's other hand rose and formed a Thunderpunch, which was thrust down into the other Gardevoir's gullet. The rest was too gruesome to watch.

_I can offer something to each and every one of you. For Takeru, the knowledge possessed in this book could send him home from his Pilgrimage in honor._

A holographic image of Takeru presenting the completed Didactium to the Samurott elders flashed before Arthur's eyes. It then shifted to show him receiving mass applause and a new set of scalchops.

_Syamo could learn to secrets to attaining his ultimate form._

The image of Syamo presented to Arhus showed the Blaziken roar to the sky, and become enveloped in flames. When they faded, he was unrecognizable.

_And for you, the strength to vanquish your enemies would be at your fingertips. Y_

As he spoke, an image of Harlequin appeared. She was screaming and moving, as if trying to run, as she turned to dust.

All images faded, and the Didactium floated towards Arthur. _You could save your entire world. All you have to do is my bidding._

The answer came much more naturally than he would've expected. While Arthur was intrigued somewhat, his cautious nature had somehow been…overlooked. Something else was at play here.

"I accept."

…

Flapping its tiny wings as hard as it could, the Archen (Pyjak was his name) finally reached his destination: the Boneyard. A dark dreary wasteland covered with the skeletal remains of great creatures. Very big, and very dead.

Pyjak flew inside the ribcage of a skeleton belonging to a Pokémon that must've been several hundred times his size. Within it was an entire complex: a fort built inside of the corpse.

Making his way to the highest level, Pyjak flew into a small throne room of sorts. Sitting atop a virtual throne of gold and treasure was a Kabutops, head bowed in deep mediation.

Pyjak landed on his scythe and whispered into his ear the report he had brought. The Kabutops raised his head slowly. His eyes flashed red, and then returned to their normal color of ocean blue.

Taking his time, the Kabutops descended the stairs within the multiple levels of the Corpse Fortress and made his way onto the grey soil outside.

As he exited, a Bastiodon and a Carracosta noticed him leaving. Wordlessly, they followed.

Out from under the skull of a dead Dragonite, a Kabuto also took note of his masters' imminent departure. He turned and let out a series of chitters to his fellows, and then scurried ahead, followed by about fifteen more.

They reached a large grey clearing ahead of the three large ancients; a clearing obstructed by no bones, stones, or any other manner of "one". There was an odd spiral pattern, as if a giant fan blade had spun the dirt.

As his fellows got to work drawing three great rings, each bigger than the last, around him, the lead Kabuto took out four strange cards.

Strikingly similar to those uncovered by Josh.

Arranging them in a set order, the Kabuto backed up to admire his handiwork. Satisfied, he checked his fellows'. The three circles had been drawn along with all the appropriate runes.

One thing left to do. The Kabuto took out a match and struck in, dropping it in between the four cards. He then skittered away.

Three tiny tendrils of fire snaked their way from the match and onto the cards, which began to glow white hot. A great golden beacon of light shot up into the sky. At this point, the three ancients, led by the Kabutops, were approaching.

Exploding with light, the still glowing cards hit the ground, and the first ring along with all runes in between began to glow. The shining red line began to spin.

The middle line exploded in yellow light, and began to rotate as well. Finally, the last one exploded in neon blue.

At the center, where the cards lie, was now a blinding white light. The epicenter of the now swirling vortex.

The Kabutops, followed by the Carracosta and then the Bastiodon walked slowly in without any hesitation. The heat radiating from the core was furious, but they were able to withstand it.

Screaming like a thousand nails on a mile wide chalkboard, the portal held for a moment more before exploding into a bright eruption of light. The great golden beacon in the center sunk back down.

When the light faded, all three were gone, the swirl pattern in the dirt now fresh and smoking. The four cards floated down and arranged themselves in a neat pile.

Team Aegis had mobilized.

* * *

**Dun dun duuuuuuuun...Team Aegis, the aforementioned greatest Exploration Team of them all has mobilized. And for what reason? What was behind the mysterious cards they used to summon up the portal. Meanwhile, Arthur has overheard the Fearsome Four's directive to assasainate a human-turned-Pokemon, before learning of the Didactium from the spirit of Sytheriss Mehrunes Khan. Is he telling the truth about everything (because we all know disembodied voices aren't always very honest). What secrets will the Didactium divulge? Stay tuned to find out!**

**Those of you who've played Gates to Infinity might know what Team Aegis did specifically, which may inform you of the cards that Team MAX found. I'm borrowing a concept from the second series of PMD as well as Gates to Infinity and combining them in an effort to do something the could've potentially done, but botched in Gates: explaining Mystery Dungeons. No spoilers, but as of now you've seen examples of both, and it will be fully explained in the story.**

**So, I was thinking and I came up with an odd theory: if you really think about it, PMD games are Pokemon zombie apocolypses. Think about it: mindless Pokemon roam the land, the world is falling into disarray, and there's that one last civilized place where Pokemon are trying to retain normality, and a core of brave Pokemon who help the remaining sane Pokemon across the land.**

**Tell me I'm wrong.**

**Also, Mega Pokemon have been revealed (if you don't know what I'm talking about, visit on the double) but it has now been revealed that they will be temporary in-battle transformations. You know what that means...even better PMD fight scenes! But, as a rule, I'm going to try my hardest not to use Gen 6 stuff until at least we're fully informed on how it all works.**

**So, with all that out of the way, I'll seeya next time!**

**P.S. If you like Mystery Dungeon stories, why not check out SCI-FIWIZARDMAN's novelization of Gates to Infinity! It's really good!**


	18. Chapter 18: Betrayal

**Previously on Revelations:**

**The fight with the Fearsome Four came to a disturbing end when Spartan ordered Goliath to destroy Spike Mountain, burying the brave warriors under a sheet of rock. Arthur remained the only one conscious, and overheard Harlequin talking about a "human" that she and her teammates were supposed to deal with. Later, he was lured into a strange cave by an even stranger ball of light, leading him into the lair of Sytheriss Mehrunes Khan, a disembodied voice who named the timid Ralts his champion; the one who would reclaim the lost pieces of his book, the Didactium, with promises of unlimited power. After revealing to him that the Fearsome Four had killed his parents, Arthur agreed to the spirit's demands. What will happen next? Find out now!**

* * *

Josh cleared another fallen log in the mad dash to escape the Yellow Forest. The buzzing and crashing of branches behind them was becoming ever louder as they went. The adventure party had faced far too much to be on their A-game tonight, and were desperately hoping to avoid any sort of confrontation.

After quickly obtaining the cards and the book from the rebels (all of which was now safely in Amber's bag) Team MAX, Team Dazzle, and Ricardio had taken Red-Eye's recommended route out of the forest.

Which had lead them straight into an ambush.

"I knew it! I knew we couldn't trust that guy!" hissed Mo, who felt right at home in the dense forest, allowing him to navigate the thick foliage with ease. He ran with his head low, leaping over and under anything that attempted to obstruct his path.

Ricardio was having such affluence as well, hopping high above from branch to branch along with Didi, Jake floating alongside them. Flair and Amy were very capable in the brush as well.

The others didn't have so much luck. Para-Dox's predicament was self-explanatory: the large Pokémon had trouble in the thick woods, where crushing everything in his path was his only option, and the fauna he encountered was often a bit stubborn.

Josh possessed a body that, not only was he not used to, but was not fit to be running through a forest in the first place.

And Amber, while accustomed to forest, was simply having a hard time keeping up. Her little body was simply not up to the task.

But Josh would not simply let her fall behind, which was why he admittedly lagged back a bit to make sure she was okay.

Huffing and puffing, Josh said, "We can't be sure *huff huff* that Red-Eye deceived us. He did say *huff huff* that he had lots of enemies, especially Bug-Types!"

"Well, until I have reason to believe otherwise, he's Team MAX Enemy Number One!"

Leaving the running to Para for a moment, Dox shook his head and cleared his throat. "While I agree that the circumstances were a bit sketchy, it begs the question of why they would allow us the pick of our treasure when they planned on attacking anyway."

"They could've planned on ambushing us to take it back!" Jake called down from the trees, "The explosion could've been staged to get us moving!"

"A fair point. But would they really risk us losing or damaging the treasure?"

The debate was cut short by Amber, who let out a pained yelp. A branch pushed back to allow travel through had come back and whacked the young Torchic in the face, sending her onto her backside.

Josh immediately skidded to a stop and ran back to help her. Not stopping for chivalry, he yanked her up by the band around her neck and urged her ahead.

And not a second too soon. A Poison Sting barb landed right where Amber's head had been. Josh could practically see the venom brimming from within during the quick glance he had sent back.

"Hold still so I can kill you!" buzzed a shrill, irritating voice. Josh didn't feel the need to respond: continuing to run was answer enough.

Ahead he heard the sound of several bodies breaking through leaves, signaling the end of the forest. Freedom.

He urged Amber ahead. "C'mon, we're almost there!"

"Right!" squeaked Amber, pushing as hard as her tiny body would allow. The twosome put on all the extra speed they had and shot ahead.

Unfortunately for them, they did not take into account that they were, quite literally, not out of the woods yet. Both of them tripped on one last mossy root and flew out of the brush.

Josh landed spinning on his shell, and soon after caught Amber. Both found themselves gasping for breath.

Beneath his shell was soft, green grass extending for miles. Even at night the emerald hills stretched as far as the eye could see. To the east was a large mountain formation, a great deal of smoke rising from its base.

"You alright?" Josh asked in a raspy whisper. Amber nodded and hopped off.

Since he could not simply do it himself, Mo rushed over to his Team Leader and flipped him back onto his feet. Josh clasped his hand.

"Thanks, pal."

Mo didn't have any time to respond when out of the forest tore their pursuers. Team MAX found themselves once again completely surrounded by Bug-Types, aerial and land based.

Atop a large rock formation behind them landed a Beedrill, who buzzed with excitement. "Well, well, what have we here? Zzzzzehehehehe!"

Silence. There was only silence as captives assessed their foes. Everyone came up with the same observation.

"They don't have the tattoos," whispered Amber. Josh nodded.

"They aren't Red-Eye's men."

The Beedrill rubbed his needles together exorbitantly. "Well, here's the deal. You have something we want. We get it, you don't _get it_. Got it?"

"I don't get it…" said Jake, looking at the ground. If he meant treasure, they didn't have any more of that. Perhaps if they had just been a tad selfish they could've lived…

Of course, there was still the matter of Josh's cards and the book that he had so passionately defended.

_Those things are more trouble than they're worth, _cursed Mo, _Literally._

The Beedrill's throat gurgled angrily. In a flash he was down on the ground, needle prodding Amy's neck. The rest of Team Dazzle was certainly woken up, rage woven in each and every one of their faces.

"The stone…" he snarled, digging it deeper. Amy whimpered. "Where is the Keystone of Kinship!?"

"You mean the Keystone of Love?" chirped Amber. Mo shot her a furious glare.

_Idiot!_

The Beedrill slowly withdrew his needle. He hovered over to Mo, chuckling. "Oh, so you know of it. Yes, as the Keystone faded into legend, there were of course stories and different aliases in said stories. But yes, they are one and the same.

"My name is Zekka. You see, I was once an associate of Sehren's. Glory in uniting our people and all that, yeah, yeah, but I was in it for another thing: money and power. Sehren had been approached by a very…mysterious figure and offered vast riches and power in exchange for joining up in some alliance. And of course, I'd be coming along for the ride.

"But Sehren got his priorities mixed up. He's not focusing on the things he should be like that nice lady informed him. Sure, he's still one of her most trusted associates, on her inner circle and such and still reaping the benefits, but I fear the time will come where his usefulness will expire."

"A bold claim, no?" prodded Ricardio. Zekka hissed and shot a Poison Sting at his feet. The glowing purple needle stuck right into the ground before him, oozing with venom.

"If I give this woman what she wants, _I _will be given Sehren's throne." Zekka waved a needle over his head. "And those loyal to me will be allowed along for the ride. Isn't that right, boys?"

"YEAH!" exclaimed Zekka's henchmen in unison. Whatever delusional tale of grandeur Zekka had woven for these Pokémon, they were buying right into it.

Chuckling, Zekka slowly ambled towards Amber. Her eyes sparkled with fear. Slowly, Zekka poked his needle into her neck, eliciting a whimper.

"I remember you," he growled, pressing his needle against the bottom of her beak so that he head was titled upwards, "You were that Torchic that hid in the bushes while she watched her entire family die. You're a coward."

Amber sobbed. _It's true_, she shrieked on the inside, _I should've died with my family instead of watching like a passive waste! I'm a disgrace…I…I…_

Josh clenched his fists and scowled at Zekka. "You shut your-"

A glob of sticky white web caught Josh in the mouth, turning the next word he would've uttered into nothing more than a muffled sound. The impact sent him reeling, and sent all of Zekka's cronies into a fit of laughter.

Zekka allowed himself a brief chuckle, but then pressed his needle back into Amber's neck. "Ahem. As I was saying, you must not like Sehren. Want revenge for letting him slaughter your family like Magikarp in a barrel? Well…"

His barbed claw slowly brushed the side of Amber's face. "Give me the Keystone. Sehren will fall and you will be redeemed. Come now, it can't be that hard of a decision. You hate Sehren. I hate Sehren. Why not just help me help you and give up the stone?"

Amber was completely helpless. An Ember to the face would do massive damage to Zekka, but Amber was simply too choked up to do it. The grief of what she had witnessed only weeks before stung as just as bad it did when it happened. And Zekka knew this.

"You want a stone?" growled Mo. "Here!" With his tale, Mo swatted a sharp pebble into Zekka's eye. The Beedrill shrieked in pain and leapt back.

"Poison Sting!" he shouted, covering his wounded eye with one needle and launching the spray of needles with the other. Josh tackled Amber to the ground just in time.

"Thanks…" she whispered breathlessly, still shivering.

"No problem," said Josh, standing up and then helping Amber to her feet. Apprehensively, Josh studied her condition. "Wanna sit this one out?"

Amber shook her head hesitantly. "I didn't just watch my mom and my siblings die," she whispered, her weakness flaring into blazing fire. "YOU'RE A LIAR!"

Talons digging into the ground, Amber charged Zekka at blinding speed. Her beak was outstretched, leading Zekka to believe she would be going in for a Peck.

Zekka stabbed out his needle at Amber, and fell right into her trap. Amber twirled and pivoted on her claw, bringing herself right into Zekka's blind spot.

"Scratch!" she shouted, raking her claws against Zekka's thorax. The Beedrill yelped in pan and took to the air, avoiding the next Scratch by the skin of his antennae.

Flipping around, Zekka bore witness to his beautiful ambush turning into a mosh put that could be anyone's game. _This wasn't supposed to happen! I was supposed to win! They'll all die slow, painful deaths for this…_

Up in the air where nothing could touch him, Zekka resolved to control the battle from above. "You two!" he screeched, pointing at a Skorupi and a Drapion. "Attack!"

The two scorpion Pokémon charged, frothy poison dripping from their mouths. At first it almost seemed to Josh and Mo that they'd take Amber from behind.

As the two readied their attacks to save their teammate, Amber wowed them once again. Pushing off the ground, Amber somersaulted right through the Skorupi's open claw, and was already worlds away by the time it snapped shut.

She then launched an Ember attack right under it, flipping it over and scorching its underbelly.

Next came the Drapion, who wasted no time at all in thrusting his arm at Amber. The Torchic dodged it like it was nothing and the arm sunk into the ground.

As he tried to dislodge his claw from the earth, Amber scurried behind him, up his back and onto his neck in a matter of seconds. She unleashed a devastating flurry of Pecks into the base of his head.

Josh watched in total awe as his timid, young compatriot took on opponents many times her own strength and level of experience.

"Her speed…it's inhuman!" gasped the Squirtle.

"So is everything in this world," said Mo with a roll of his eyes, "But I get that you're using an expression to represent 'unreal'."

"Uh…ehehe…yup…"

"I too find this most strange." Mo pondered for a second. "Where would she get this sudden boost?" And then it hit him.

"Speed Boost! Her ability is Speed Boost!"

"Wait, I though Torchics all had Blaze for an ability!"

Mo nodded as the two watched Amber pour Pecks into the Drapion's neck like rain. "Speed Boost is the result of a super rare and recessive gene. I'm not even sure if any purebred Torchic has ever gotten it: it's the result of generations of breeding with other species."

"Well, Salty did say her father was a Golduck, so I guess it makes sense…"

The Drapion finally managed to yank his arm out of the ground, no thanks to the assailant on his back. Who, at the moment, was far too busy attacking to notice that her opponent was now one hundred percent more versatile.

"Amber, look out!" cried Josh, but she simply couldn't hear him in time. The Drapion reached up and clamped his steely claws around her, and then flung her right off of his back.

Amber landed on her feet, but was given no time for recovery. "Pin Missile!" shouted the Drapion, raising his claws in the air. The glowed bright white and out shot several squiggly arrow tipped streams of light.

Amber danced around and tried to avoid them as they exploded around her, with some success at first, but stood no chance when they pure amount of poisoned needles sticking out of the ground exploded together in a burst of purple energy. The young Torchic was sent flying and landed in a heap several yards away.

Up above, Zekka laughed triumphantly. "Well, there's one thing that Sehren couldn't finish that I could! And I expect plenty more similar cases to come!"

Mo and Josh rushed over to Amber, Mo reaching her first. "How bad is it?" Josh burst out saying.

"She's alive, but…" Mo gestured to the purple barb sticking out of her leg. Josh's head quickly swiveled to where Zekka had shot the Poison Sting into the ground. It had been halved. The other half now rest in Amber's leg.

"C-can you get it out?" Mo nodded, two vines shooting from the natural collar on his neck. One carefully tore the band off of Amber's neck, and the other wrapped around the Poison Sting.

Mo hissed as the venom stung his vine, clenched his teeth and counted to three. On three, he yanked the barb out of her leg and tossed it aside. Amber jerked in her sleep. Quickly, Mo wrapped the band tight around her leg.

"She's fine for now, but there's no doubt poison in her! She needs a Pecha Berry fast, which wouldn't be a problem if we hadn't given all of our stuff away!"

Josh clenched his fists and his eyes tightened as he realized the truth in Mo's words. Jake's own thoughts echoed through his: a little selfishness might not have been so bad.

Zekka was quite pleased with his bird's eye view of the pain and suffering his enemies faced. Entertainment at its finest.

"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzehehehe!" chortled the Beedrill, actually having to cover his mouth to contain the excitement. "You know, I'd put aside my differences with Sehren for twenty minutes if it meant being able to share this moment with him! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzhahahaha!"

His rampant laughter was interrupted by an Ice Beam stabbing at him from the ground. Zekka banked to the left just in time and faced down a seeting Jake.

The young Vanillite looked enraged to the point where he was in danger of melting himself. "You leave our friends alone, you big bully!"

Zekka rubbed his needles together in anticipation. "You know what they say," Zekka growled as he pointed his needles at Jake, whose burst of bravado quickly faded, "Ice cream always goes well with a view sprinkles!"

"Water Gun!" The loudmouthed insectoid was hit full on by the gusher of water. As he spun in midair, cursing, Josh took a step forward a wiped his chin clear of the water dribbling down it.

All of Zekka's men seemed mesmerized that anyone would defy their great leader. He didn't remember from where, but a saying came to Josh's mind: _"Might makes right." _The fact that Zekka had defied a titan like Sehren must've made him just as great in the eyes of those dumb enough to follow him.

Josh truly understood now why bad Pokémon followed even worse Pokémon: most weren't smart enough to think for themselves and usually had to brawn to back up the lack of brain. Seeing a Pokémon stronger than them, in their eyes, gave that Pokémon the right to rule.

"You know what I hate about Pokémon like you?" Josh called up to the dripping wet and hopping mad Zekka. "It's that these poor suckers think you're actually a good leader. You impose your right to lead just by the fact that you've got something over the rest."

"And that's different from how you do-gooders do it _how!?_" he retorted.

The Squirtle simply grunted. "We suggest it. I was elected leader of this team, just like Jake was nominated for a leadership position on his."

Over with the Dazzles, Didi grinned cheekily and ruffled her tail. "Well, about that-"

Flair punched her in the shoulder, silencing any further objection or remarks.

Still fluttering high above the battle, Zekka shook his head, antennae twitching. "I still disagree. But there still is a difference between you and I in regards to this argument."

"Oh?" Josh cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm going to live long enough to continue it." Zekka's red eyes glowed bright with malice as he once again brought his needles to bear on Josh. "Die."

The twin needles began to spin, and Poison Sting attacks began to rain fire at Josh. Team MAX's leader immediately turned tail and ran, not out of cowardice but to give Mo an opportunity to get the sickly Amber out of harm's way.

Mo snapped instantly to the reality of Josh's plan and proceeded to drag Amber behind a small rock that would provide enough cover to keep her safe. He was ready to jump back into combat at a moment's notice, but strangely enough Zekka's men still weren't moving.

Meanwhile, Zekka wasn't giving Josh any room for error, but the Squirtle seemed to be doing just fine. Josh remained ahead of the stream of poisonous barbs, which were protruding from the ground like a trail of venomous flowers, with new additions popping up every second.

Growling out of frustration, Zekka adjusted his angle and finally managed to catch up with Josh. The target immediately retreated into his shell as several Poison Sting pierced it and latched onto the carapace.

"Rapid Spin!" he shouted, his shell rotating at speeds that could sharpen a sword. The Poison Sting shot out into all directions, blurred to the point where they seemed to be violet bolts of lightning.

One, however, found its mark. Zekka, guard still down, was struck by one of his own attacks, renewed into the fight by the clever Josh.

Grazing his should, Zekka's lack of traction forced him to spin around. Screaming with rage, the Beedrill strained his wings to right himself.

A quick survey of the battlefield out of his paneled eyes only served to make Zekka angrier. "You fools!" he cried, flailing his arms in hysterics. "Get them! Kill them all!"

It took a moment for the dazed rogues to process the command before turning from dumbfounded to deadly in a matter of milliseconds, leaping back into the fray.

Luckily, everyone else hadn't let their guard down for a second. As Zekka's men attacked, Teams MAX and Dazzle responded with the skill and discipline of seasoned warriors.

A bulky Heracross lunged at Flair while she was treating a Cascoon to one of her Fire Spins. Out of nowhere the massive form of Para-Dox charged in to defend the defenseless Vulpix.

Para chomped down on the massive bug's horn, causing it to stop dead. It began to panic, making it easier for the Zwelious head to fling it into the air. While frantically trying to regain balance, Para-Dox each formed a ball of blue flame in their mouth and blew their foe away with a double Dragonbreath.

Close by, Didi and Amy were dealing with a large mob of Pokémon coming their way, blasting them back with Flamethrower and Discharge. In leapt Ricardio, spinning and crossing his flowered arms.

"Grasswhistle…"he hummed, placing a weed in between his thin lips and producing a mesmerizing tune. Enemies began to drop left and right, succumbing to the inviting promises of sleepytime.

After putting a Galvantula on ice **(rimshot) **Jake became suddenly aware of the plight of his teammates, and rushed over to aid them.

His path was bisected by a certain Beedrill, the surprise of his sudden coming knocking Jake onto his back.

"I didn't get to finish my sentence," buzzed Zekka, surveying a needle as he backed Jake up further and further, "So I guess it's only fair that you don't get to finish _your life_."

Jake gulped. "Th-that doesn't seem very fair…"

Zekka simply laughed and raised his needle. "Poison-ack!" Two emerald vines wrapped around Zekka's shoulders, forcing his arms down to his sides.

Mo pulled him off of his feet and turned him around so that they were face to face. Zekka very quickly found out that Mo, evidently, wasn't very happy.

The Snivy's piercing glare made Zekka unsure whether or not he was using a Leer attack. "You threaten my friends, you injure my teammate, and you try to kill us all. _What do you have to say for yourself!?_"

Much in contrast to his previous loudmouthed, pompous, and overconfident standpoint, Zekka was no whimpering and trying to avoid Mo's gaze.

_Unbelievable_, thought a thoroughly disgusted Mo, _The second he knows he's beaten he turns into a sniveling coward!_

"P-please!" stammered Zekka, "I-I-I promise I'll be good from now on! In fact, I sweat it! Y-You'll never see me again!"

"Are you kidding me!?" barked Josh from afar, sauntering over to Mo and his captive. "You've got a lot of nerve asking for forgiveness after what you've done!"

Zekka gulped. "D-din't your mother ever teach you to forgive and forget?"

Josh shrugged. "Perhaps."

Mo tightened his grip on Zekka, causing Zekka to scream in pain. "Unluckily for you, he has amnesia."

"O-okay! Okay! You win! We surrender!" shrieked Zekka, flailing his arms and legs and gasping for breath. Mo cut him a little slack.

After a few confused grunts from his men, Zekka sucked in a gluttonous breath of air. "We'll surrender and go willingly! I just have one tiny request before you lock me away!"

Mo tilted his head back. Zekka responded with a devious cackle. "Die."

The sting of the word hit Mo milliseconds before the actual sting. Mo staggered back, his vines relaxing and allowing Zekka to burst free and once again take to the skies.

Dizzying vision made it hard for Mo to initially notice, but he very quickly pinpointed the Poison Sting sticking out of his shoulder. He realized what had to be done and quickly wrapped a vine around the barb.

A quick count to three was all Mo allotted himself before yanking the barb out and howling in pain. Josh ran to his friend's aid as he collapsed.

"Buddy!" cried Josh. The Squirtle wrapped one of Mo's arms around his own neck and helped him up. "Are you okay!?"

"Fine…" he moaned in a voice barely over a mumble. "Got the barb out…just in time. Enough poison….in my veins…to knock me out…"

Mo's legs turned to jelly and he faltered, but Josh would not let him fall.

"Hang tight, pal. I've got you." On the outside, Josh was doing his best to be reassuring. But he was getting a rather severe tongue lashing from himself within.

_I don't believe this! I've been leader for a few hours and I've already given up our team's first bounty, and fifty percent of our members have been poisoned on my watch. I must be the worst leader ever…_

Josh was ironically far too busy berating himself for his carelessness to notice the Drapion charging at his back, fangs bared and claws opened wide.

Engaged in her own battle, Amy noticed this. "Josh, look out!" she shrieked, knowing that she wouldn't be able to alert the others in time, much less get there in time.

The Drapion roared in triumph and raised his own claws to the air, ready for the kill. It was just then Josh turned and quickly scolded himself for what he thought would be the last time.

Faster than a Munchlax to an "All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet," two silver scythes appeared around Drapion's midsection. He reared suddenly once he felt the cold metal on his chest and the clawed feet digging into his back.

Drapion tried to utilize one of his people's most useful combat traits, being able to turn a fell three hundred and sixty degrees, but the comparatively smaller yet more powerful figure was restricting movement.

"No, please no!" cried the Drapion, now begging for mercy from the assailant he didn't even know existed until seconds before.

Now very wary of opportunities presenting themselves, Josh dragged the now unconscious Mo behind the very same rock the Amber rested behind.

Just as he laid his comrade down, he heard a _SHINK! _And the sound of a large body flopping onto the ground. Wiping his brow, Josh thanked his lucky stars he missed the gritty details about how this mysterious attacker felled the Drapion.

Said attacker stood about four feet high, and possessed legs in a backward bend. Not much else could be discerned thanks to the cover of night, but Josh could make out some _literally_ sharp features on the Pokémon.

Gulping, he decided to give the newcomer the benefit of the doubt. _The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all_, he thought. "Who are you?"

It hesitated for a moment, then spoke. "Chorax," he said in a raspy voice, reaching down to his side. Josh flinched and braced for an attack, but instead noticed two tiny objects flung up into the air by Chorax.

Catching the two items in his outstretched hands, Chorax identified them while his eyes strained in the darkness to do it himself. "Heal Seeds. Feed them to your comrades."

Before Josh could respond, Chorax flipped around and whacked an oncoming Dustox in the face with his elbow, sending the attacker sprawling on its back. Even covered by shadow, Josh was subject to awe at how fast Chorax was.

Leaping like a primal hunter, Chorax landed in front of the helpless Poison Moth Pokémon. His right claw rose into the air, gleaming silver in the reflected moonlight.

Josh decided this would be a good time to duck away and heal his friends.

Once again his enemies geared up for a sneak attack. The Bug-Types knew that the battle would not go in their favor and were prepared to do a cut-and-run.

Just as the threesome consisting of a Ninjask, a Whirlipede and a Vespiquen lunged, a ground shaking roar tore through the night and petrified them with fear.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" An instant later they found themselves smashed into a rock by the metal plated head of their charging opponent, a four legged monster with a leathery yellow body and a square head harder than diamonds.

A weak attempt at retaliation was mounted by their allies to the north, but a sudden burst of saltwater enveloped them, and as quickly as it had materialized it froze solid. A massive bipedal beast with a stone shell smashed the ice blocks with a powerful flipper sending frozen fainted Pokémon across the battlefield like rain.

Zekka watched as his soldiers were decimated. The only thing more powerful than his cowardice, his selfish sense of self preservation, allowed him to pull himself together.

_Well, it's a shame to lose such loyal me, but those grow on trees these days. Time to move on. _Seeing his job as done as it would get, Zekka turned and took off towards the Yellow Woods.

The large turtle Pokémon noticed this, and it didn't please him. He raised his flippers into the air as dagger-like stones began to swirl around him, readying a final attack.

This was the first thing a dazed Amber saw as she returned to the land of consciousness. All fatigue seemed to be brushed aside by what she interpreted as quite the heinous sight.

"Stop!" she squeaked, jumping to her feet and scurrying over to the much larger Pokémon. "You can't do that! Stop it!"

"Amber, what are you doing!?" cried Josh, dropping Mo's Heal Seed and jolting to his feet. He didn't know what baffled him more: Amber's instantaneous recovery, or her desperate please to spare Zekka.

Well, she had surprised him in the past. Though those times he welcomed it…

Noticing her please weren't being recognized, Amber sucked in a deep breath and squeaked, "Ember!" In her condition, the flaming byproduct was quite weak, but enough to get the larger Pokémon's attention.

The stones swirling around him froze and clattered to the ground. His nostrils flared, and he raised a round foot.

"Wretch!" he cried, stomping only inches from Amber. Though the force generated was plenty to send her flying back into a rock.

Growling, the larger Pokémon watched as Zekka left his effective firing range. He stormed over to Amber and glared at the Torchic, not much stopping him from spitting out of pure repugnance.

"Congrats, hatchling. He got away. I hope you're happy letting the monster who murdered your brothers and sister go."

Amber was struggling to get to her feet, and was soon aided by Josh, who glared up at the larger turtle, who by the way did not look sorry.

Amber attained a decent balance and thanked Josh. She then addressed the other Pokémon. "It's wrong to shoot someone in the back. No matter who they are, no one deserves that."

The other turtle Pokémon snarled. A bark of laughter from the four legged one called his attention over his shoulder.

"What's the matter, Kolag?" he chortled, with a booming voice that suggested the gargling of marbles, "Are the younglings proving too much of a distraction to hit a single target."

"Quiet, Bromus," he snarled, rubbing a hand on his leathery snout, "I only stopped to teach the hatchling its place."

"No," interrupted Chorax. He hopped up onto a rock placing him directly in front of the moonlight, and allowing Josh a better look at him.

He had a U shaped head and was covered in brown, bone-like chitin. His most striking (once again, quite literally) features were his two scythe hands.

"We came here because it was imperative to do so," he hissed at his comrades. Josh theorized him to be the leader, as the two other behemoths gave him their undevided attention.

Filing in from behind was the rest of the adventure party, staring up at the Kabutops.

"Whoa," whispered Jake, "That's Chorax, leader of Team Aegis."

"Team Aegis…" Josh briefly flashed back to Quarrysville, to the leaderboards mentioned by Mo. This Team Aegis seemed to be a most prestigious group.

Josh shifted nervously, which did not escape Chorax's sharp eyes. "Something bothers you, human?"

Everyone drew in a collective breath, though the mention of Josh's true species didn't seem to alter Team Aegis' mood at all.

"Indeed, we know what you are. And we deemed it quite important that we ensured your continued safety."

"Human, eh?" grunted an unidentified voice. Team Aegis readied themselves for battle, while the recent revelation seemed to prevent everyone else from doing anything more than wonder who had spoken.

Around one of the large rock formations came a tattered group of travelers who looked as if they had had an even worse time than Josh and his friends.

Foremost was a Blaziken, covered in cuts and bruises. The pained expression on his face painted him as nearly unable to carry the Dewott slung over his left shoulder and support the Gallade whose arm was wrapped around his right. Behind them stood a Ralts, the timid creature seeking shelter behind the Blaziken's legs.

"Then it looks like we've come to the right place."

* * *

**It appears Arthur has spilled the beans to Syamo, and now even more Pokemon know of Josh's humanity. But how does Team Aegis know? What do both groups plan to do? Find out next time!**

**That is, hopefully next time. Sorry about the gap in updates! Computer issues, but now they're fixed and I should be able to resume a regular schedule! Yay! I hope to update Eterna Academy soon, perhaps this weekend!**

**With that, I have a quick request: If you could, tell me how I can improve my writing. I want this story to be the very best it can be, and I need your guys' help to do it! So after you review, gimmie a little feedback on how I can improve!**

**Also, in regards to my upcoming X and Y story, I have a poll going on who Will should start off with. So go weigh in on that!**

**That being said, please review and stick around for next time! **


	19. Chapter 19: State of Nature

**Last time on Explorers of Destiny:**

**Team MAX found themselves ambushed by Zekka, an ally of Sehren's gone traitor, caliming to be after the Keystine if Kinship as well as Sehren's throne. During the battle, Amber showed her true colors and revealed her special ability to be the covered Speed Boost. But this surge was short lived when the tides turned in Zekka's favor. Team MAX was rescued by the legendary Team Aegis, who ruthlessly ended the ambush. In the end, Amber allowed Zekka to escape, rather than watch him be gunned down in the back by Kolag. Just as all was settling down, a strange group of Pokemon lead by a Blaziken appeared, claiming to know as Team Aegis did of Josh's humanity? What comes next? Find out now!**

* * *

Amber stared at the strangers in a state of wonder. Namely, Syamo. She hadn't seen one of her kind in a very, very long time.

It was sad, really. After this long Amber had forgotten what the rest of her people looked like, save for the Torchic who stared back in her reflection.

That had once been a different Torchic. That Torchic had been happy and carefree, and lived her life without worry. And although that Torchic had been an outcast…she wished she had her life back more and more every day.

Back then she didn't have to make the choice between blasting her family's co-murdered and letting him go.

Then again, back then her family was still alive.

Syamo was adversely interested in Amber. While he wasn't as wonderstruck has she was, it had still been a long time ago when he last laid eyes on a Brood-brother or sister. The last of his kind he saw was a Combusken, and that particular one had been trying to kill him.

Another story for another time.

What was even stranger wasn't even that a Torchic was on an Exploration Team, but under the leadership of a Squirtle nonetheless. Very strange…

Kolag snarled and spread his legs. "Easy, friends. Not too close. You haven't caught us in a sporting mood tonight."

"Peace, brother," said Chorax, dismissing his comrade's aggression with a wave of his claw. "These travelers are of no consequence. Dispatching them would hardly qualify as exercise."

"Hey!" interjected Takeru, "I could totally-ack!" He fell to the ground in a fit of coughing, holding his rib cage.

Chorax scrutinized the newcomers for a moment longer before turning abruptly and stalking back over to his comrades.

"What do we do?" asked Bromus, "They know about the human. What's more, I think I saw Council markings on that Gallade."

Kolag snarled. "One of their attack dogs, no doubt. They're too self-righteous to fight themselves, let along leave that accursed mountain. I say we kill them."

Chorax took this all in for a moment. "No. They live. For a bit longer, at least. That book…it is foreign to me, but in the same way it is not."

The three of them looked back over their shoulders. The Blaziken, Syamo, was leaning the unconscious Gallade up against a rock. The Ralts, Arthur, stood behind the leg, mouth moving. Though at this distance there was no audio.

Luckily Bromus was a master lip reader. "Says he's suspicious about us."

"Who wouldn't be?" grunted Kolag.

"That's not it though. He's suspicious of the others, too. Think you might be onto something there, Chorax. That book's important to him."

Chorax nodded and continued the conversation. Far in the distance, behind Syamo and Arthur, something stirred.

An Ariados, not quite down and out yet but grievously injured, was crawling slowly towards them. He was covered in scratches and small dribbles of his own blood, and one eye was swollen just. He knew that he was going down, but he was taking out at least one or two of these suckers before he did.

With his only two good legs he dragged himself forward. His mandibles dripped with venom as he prepared for one last Poison Jab right into Arthur's back.

When the first drop of poison hit the ground, Chorax and the rest of Team Aegis was immediately alerted to trouble with their heightened senses of smell. But even then it was too late.

"Look out!" bellowed the Kabutops. Arthur whirled around and grimaced in horror. Syamo noticed as well and moved to attack, but it would all amount to nothing.

"Aura Sphere!"

Just as the Ariados was about to sink his fangs into Arthur and claim him for death, a glowing blue orb of energy struck him dead center. He was flung into a rock and moved no longer.

Everyone searched for the source of the attack, and found it atop a high rock. It was a Togekiss, covered in smoldered fur, and from the looks of it she was in a fight to remain awake.

"I've gotta stop doing that," she moaned. Then her eyes rolled up into her head and she slid off of the rock.

…

The adventurers, plus Team Aegis, decided to set up a campfire and stay the night since Mo, Takeru, Jerry, and now this Togekiss were in no shape to travel. Mo and the Togekiss were still asleep, and Takeru had since joined them in dreamland.

"No way in the Distortion World I'm quitting out!" he had firmly stated when Arthur had attempted to see him down. After a good deal of convincing (and ambiguous threats on the side of Team Aegis) Takeru had been convinced to sit down with the other sleepyheads. The second his head touched the Togekiss's cloudlike down, it was all over.

Jerry had woken up as well and in quite the reverse scenario for Takeru would not let Josh alone for a second. In the fight with some group Syamo called "The Fearsome Four," which had resulted in their injuries, Jerry claimed that his "compass" had been broken. The device had been designed to pinpoint the human in their world, and although it no longer worked as intended, it dimly resonated when near Josh.

After Jerry had gotten his fill of Q&A and had come to the conclusion that Josh had no idea who he was besides name and species, he settled back down with Syamo and Arthur.

"What's the Council…uh…sir?" chirped Amber. She had never caught Jerry's name and was unfamiliar with his species. Calling a Pokémon by their species was interpreted in several ways. By elders and those in a superior position of authority it was a reminder of the pecking order, as to assert their right to respect. To most others, unless of the same species, it was seen as almost an insult, like implying that species was all that defined an individual.

Same went for calling someone just "Pokémon." It was a bit more rigid in proper use, but was an insult in that it implied that a certain Pokémon's species was not well known enough to be named, or when amongst species it was a sign of great disrespect.

"The Council of the Eye is an order of wisemon, those with knowledge and power elevated above all others. Some in our order can even see the future."

"The future…"mouthed Arthur, unconsciously moving his hand behind him to touch the Didactium. A shiver went down his spine when he locked eyes with Chorax, whose gaze quickly darted away. Arthur had caught the Kabutops staring at him several times with those burning eyes of his, and needless to say it was making him uneasy.

Bromus grunted. "If you can see the future, why not let the rest of us in on a secret or two. We could stop a lot of bad people from doing a lot of bad things."

"Sight beyond sight is a concept I don't feel it worthwhile to explain to you," Jerry said condescendingly, "You wouldn't understand."

The Bastiodon shot to his feet and snarled. "I'm not sure _you _understand! Do you know why so many lives are lost by spontaneous events beyond anyone's control? How many populations are reduced to ash and bone and memory?"

He began to tromp over to Jerry. "It is because Pokémon who can do something about it, Pokémon like _you_, are too afraid. Too self-righteous. You'd rather play god up in your fancy fortress while us mortals squirm and die."

Now Bromus was right in Jerry's face, nearly touching him. Even with a massive slab of steel for a head his point was quite clearly made. Jerry didn't respond at all; he was obviously trained in temperament.

"Easy, my brother," said Chorax, "We stand to gain nothing by crushing one Gallade." Bromus growled and tromped back to his seat."

After the booming thud of Bromus sitting back down, there was a peaceful silence for a moment. A bit awkward, but peaceful. The chirping and chittering of nighttime Pokémon serenaded the twilight. In the center of the circle of Pokémon, the small fire crackled and snapped.

Josh had no idea what to say, nor what to think. A great many thoughts competed for dominance in his troubled mind.

_So…that's it? I'm here because this Council wanted me? What am I supposed to do? What do they EXPECT me to do? How can I save this world? And from what?_

Being the savior of an entire planet was a lot to stomach, so Josh decided to start small. He cleared his throat and asked, "Erm…Syamo, right? What were you talking about before? About it being weird for Amber and I to be on a team together."

Sitting cross-legged, Syamo scooched back a bit. "I suppose it makes sense that you wouldn't know. You _are_ a human, after all. Alright, I'll tell you.

"In the Third Great War, the Pokémon of Pokèpangaea were split on two sides in a great conflict. Those two factions were the Army of Light and the Shadow Alliance.

"The Shadow Alliance served a dark and sinister master who desired power and dominance above all else. It's rumored that he was after an ancient artifact called the Crown of Destiny."

"The Crown of Destiny?" asked Amy with a ruffled of her tail.

"The Crown is rumored to be forged of the essence of Arceus itself," said Chorax, "Able to literally change anything, _anything_, in the universe. He who possesses the crown is effectively a god."

Syamo nodded. "The Crown was sealed away in a place called Destiny Palace; a place that can only be described as existing half in our world and half…"

"Half where?" asked Jake.

"Half somewhere else. The Palace isn't physical, but at the same time, it is. It's hard to explain," said Jerry. Bromus snarled.

"Apparently _ever_y_thing _is these days…"growled Bromus. Chorax raised a claw to forestall any further comments.

"Listen, this is all an awesome campfire story, but when do we get to the part with the Blastoise and the Blaziken?" piped Didi. Flair swatted her on the back of the head.

"I was getting to that!" barked Syamo. "Ahem…_anyway_, the Blastoise Tribes and our own Brood were on separate sides, the Blastoise with the Army of Light and the Brood with the Alliance. The Blastoise were admired far and wide for their brute strength and military prowess, and the Blaziken for their combat skills and espionage expertise.

"In the closing battles of the war, they became brutal enemies. The Blastoise would obliterate a Blaziken-held outpost. The Blaziken would in turn use their knowledge of the topography to sneak behind and rout them with a surprise attack. It was push and pull until the Blaziken decided to take care of the problem once and for all."

A shadow fell over Syamo's face as he folded his hands. This was the part of the story he, simply as a member of the species, was most ashamed of.

"What's the matter?" asked Amber, her voice no louder than a whisper. Syamo looked down at the youngling at his side and felt a twinge of remorse.

_It's a shame she has to know now_, he thought, _I would've preferred it the other way…_

"The Blaziken lured the Blastoise into a trap," he said grimly. This time it was Arthur whose innocent satire made him feel guilty.

"How so?" he asked, folding his knees and hugging them to his chest.

Syamo ignored the pain and just went for it. "They attacked the Blastoises' most sacred place: their breeding grounds."

Josh gasped. "Th-that's terrible!" Syamo silently agreed. Such a vicious and pointless decision. The war had been over at that point. There was no hope for what remained of the Shadow Alliance to claim any sort of victory. The barbaric tribes were being pushed north. The Bug-Types east. The Blaziken acted only out of spite. Spite and stubbornness.

Syamo hadn't been there, but he could see it. He could smell it and hear it too. The fire and explosions tearing apart a once tranquil and holy place. Screams and bursts of destruction and malice. Where new life and love had once been cherished and celebrated, there was now just death and remnants of hate. Green and blue became red and black.

Syamo once again steeled himself and continued. "The Blastoise came back. And they came back hard. Warmaster Syamo's forces were utterly decimated and forced into a retreat."

As Syamo described the blood-stained history of his people, the minds of his audience couldn't help but put up glorious images of destruction for them to suffer through. The mind worked best when all was quiet. That way it could make everything else much louder.

Josh saw war in its most unrefined form. The sky was black. It was black and red and dead. What he imagined was once a serene meadow hugged by magnificent natural falls was now a smoldering mass of dirt and death.

Raining from the heavens came what could only be described as stars falling to the earth. Through the smoke came comets that exploded into pressurized pops of water, shredding hillside and gutting the land to its bones.

Retreating to the west were tall, humanoid figures were running for their lives. Making a fighting retreat, but running all the same. Every few strides of their long and powerful legs they would turn to fire a burst of fire at the unseen enemies, only to be shredded to pieces by another water rocket.

Decorating the ground as fire and smoke. The flames were too intense to see near anything that would've remained on the now barren meadow. Though every once in a while Josh would see a spiky, broken object protruding from the black mist, and he'd shudder.

They were eggshells.

A familiar sound broke the dark nonfiction of the past, which he recognized as Amber's voice and was thankful to be in the present.

"Mister Syamo? You mentioned a Blaziken with the same name as yours, right?"

Syamo nodded. "Warmaster Syamo was the Pokémon for whom I was named. He was the successor to Warmaster Gilias, who died in the Blastoise counter-attack. Once all of his remaining troops, under twenty, had been accounted for, he offered a surrender. The attack had never been his idea: before and after he sought an honorable and peaceful solution."

Now blanketed in her own tale (and hanging onto every word of the story) was Didi. "What happened next?"

"That wasn't good enough for Chieftain Octavio, the leader of the Blastoise. He too had a ruthless plan and executed it all the same."

"Which was?"

"The Blazikens' plan hadn't been as simple as 'attack and wait for them to come and then attack again.' They had planned to ambush the Blastoise in an overpass leading to the breeding grounds…and then claim them for their own. The Blazikens' own homeland had been destroyed in the war, and the Blastoise breeding grounds seemed like an adequate place.

"They underestimated their opponents, and it cost them dearly. Camping further down the mountain range was the bulk of their people, the settlers they had planned to help colonize the area.

"Octavio ordered his men to destroy the floodgates that held back the accumulated water in the falls. It washed though he valley…and that was it."

Over the past few weeks Amber had received quite the culture shock when seeing the evils that existed in individuals. But Pokémon like Team Nasty and Zekka were mere children when comparing their crimes to Pokémon like Syamo had just described, who had put entire races on the endangered list.

"Th-that's horrible…" she whispered to the ground. She felt her head getting light.

"That's just the state of nature," said Chorax matter-of-factly, "Eat or be eaten. It is a tough world, and you must meet that challenge if you wish to survive."

"Relax!" barked Jake, "She's just a little kid!"

"Then explain why she has put herself in such situations as she has, hm?"

"What would you know about this stuff!?"

"Easy, youngling," growled Kolag, "We've been exploring since before your grandparents took their first steps outside the egg."

"Oh yea, well-"

"Guys!" yelled Josh. Everyone's attention became his. "Relax! No one here is the enemy!" he began to walk across the circle to Amber. "If there's anything that story taught us, it's that unless we all get along, nothing good will come! Our only relationships will be hatred and the desire to kill, if you can even call those any sort of relationship."

He placed his hands on Amber's shoulders and lead her back over to where he had sat. "We've got an early start tomorrow. So I suggest we all get some sleep and get their priorities straight. Agreed?"

No one argued.

Still, no one slept.

…

"Hey…hey, Jaego?"

"Ugh…what?"

"Have you ever just…I dunno, have you ever just sat and wondered?"

"Wondered about what, you bumbling fool?"

"Like…why we're here? What's our purpose?"

"No. I can safely say that I have never, not once, stopped my day to think about such an idiotic matter."

"It's not idiotic! It's just…I don't know, dude. It keeps me up at night sometimes."

"I pity you. I really do."

The guards, a Frillish and a Bibarel, atop the wooden watchtower by Quarrysville's north gate. Otherwise known as the Penalty Box.

Frillish officers of the city-state of Quarrysville were born and bred with a simple creed: obey orders. Do that and all is well. They just become another nameless, faceless, meaningless member of the guard.

That wasn't good enough for Jaego. Jaego was different than is brothers. He wanted to make a name for himself. Protecting the masses with no recognition or even gratitude wasn't good enough. There were just so many of his brethren that their presence was pretty much expected. Taken for granted.

Earlier that week Jaego had been told to stand guard outside a warehouse while a team of police officers raided the inside, where a criminal gang made their base. When Jaego argued, his commanding officer responded with, "Just to what your people do best and stand and watch!"

Jaego didn't take to that very kindly. After nearly strangling his CO, Jaego was sentenced to work with the other Frillish washouts for a month in the Penalty Box and cool off.

And then he had been approached by Commander Bishop with an offer. One he couldn't refuse.

"You've got spunk. Ingenuity," had been the commander's exact words. "I want that. But I want the attitude to stay behind." And so Jaego had been forced to sit out the remained of his sentence for fairness sake.

His current company, Guy the Bibarel? Well, he was just a moron. He had been causing so much inconvenience for the police that he'd been deputized just to shut him up. But no, he just _had _to take that "promotion" like he was being made an admiral. When trying to apprehend and at large Tyranitar in the Ward District, a very unprofessional mistake had ended him up in the Penalty Box, and Quarrysville was now missing several buildings in place of smoldering ruin.

Part of Jaego actually wished the best for Guy. That he was good at his job.

That would've meant not having to deal with him.

Jaego down in the wooden nest and stared up at the blazing sun. It made his skin unhealthily dry, and the special moisturizer cream his sisters provided him with only went so far. Plus, using it was very demoralizing.

Guy reached into the supply chest and pulled out a note pad, a quill, some ink and a telescope. Balancing the telescope on the edge of the perch, he leaned his head in and peered through the lens. Every now and again he'd scribble something down on the pad.

Jaego moaned and covered his face. "What in the name of Palkia are you doing?"

"Taking down tactical data for the Lieutenant," he responded without taking his peepers off the telescope.

"You do realize that the Lieutenant wouldn't use that 'tactical data' to blow his nose, right?"

"Humph. Say what you will. _I'll_ be the honorable soldier and do my duty."

Now _that _ground Jaego's gears. He could only take so much from Guy. Jaego had been bred into and took on the noble tradition of Town Guard. Guy had been pitied by his betters, and so they tossed it right to him.

"Observing _what_ exactly!? The children playing in the fields!? The apothecaries gathering herbs!?"

"Well that Starmie has always crept me out…" Guy said glumly. Jaego floated angrily to him and swatted the telescope away. It clattered to the ground below.

"He just stands there all day and all night! He doesn't _do _anything!"

"Well, that's kinda suspicious, right…?"

Jaego cringed with white hot fury. His tentacles shot towards Guy's throat. Sitting in an enclosed space with the imbecile was a fate far worse than death.

His appendages stopped dead when he realized the paperwork he'd probably have to fill out if he killed a co-worker, and his extended punishment as well. Jaego growled and backed off.

As the disgruntled Frillish retreated to the far end of the Penalty Box, Guy returned to his post and slumped down, arms dangling over the edge. He dimly stared over the horizon waiting for Jaego's forecast of "One and of Showers of Absolutely Nothing" to occur.

When you're right, you're right.

Guy's flat tail began to swish back and forth like a metronome, and although he wasn't even looking at it, the motion began to lull him to sleep. His upper and lower lids were just about to connect when something, a few somethings, began to pop up over the hills approaching Quarrysville.

"Jaego!" he cried excitedly, "Someone's coming!"

Grumbling, the blue Frillish awoke from the pile of tentacles that had been napping on the floor. "I swear, if this is just another caravan, I will tear out your bones and sell them on the black market. I've been in need of a little extra cash…whose Hatch-Day is it coming up tomorrow? Orelia's or Venia's? Or is it both…are they twins? I forget…"

"No seriously, look!" Guy grabbed the natural frilled color for which Jaego's species was named and pulled him to the lookout. "Look!"

Jaego leaned over the side of the railing to get a better look. "I don't believe it…" he whispered to himself. Jaego turned abruptly, his tentacles twirling like coattails.

"I'm going to inform the Commander," he said. Jaego flipped around once more and prodded a tentacle at Guy. "And if you so much as move twelve feet, I will behead you and use your skull as a hood ornament! Is that clear!?"

"You're not the boss of me…"

Jaego hissed unnervingly, showcasing his pointed teeth and beady crimson eyes. It was a side of his people that not many people knew of, but his mother authorized his sisters to do it every once in a while when there was a rude or unwanted customer in the inn. It was far creepier when they did it though…

Guy jumped back shuddering uncontrollably as Jaego descended the ladder bellow. Guy turned back around to watch the prominent figures approach.

"To think…" he said dreamily, leaning his cheek up against his propped up elbow, "Today, I got to look at Team Aegis…"

…

"And now, we apply the bandages," said Doctor Bliss, laying the strip of wet cloth on the Conkeldurr's arm. The colossal Fighting-Type winced at first, but then sighed in relief as he felt the salve being absorbed into his skin.

The good doctor's apprentice, Aline the Vibrava, nodded her head and smiled. "Thank you, doctor. I'm learning so much!"

Doctor Bliss giggled and reached for her medicine cabinet, pulling out three footling strands of soothestone, a substance mined in Quarrysville, and were great painkillers aside from helping muscles and flesh wounds heal faster. Plus, they looked and tasted just like rock candy.

"Now, you take one of these every six hours," she said, snapping them in half. "If the burn isn't gone by then, come see me again."

"Okay…" grumbled the Conkeldurr, reaching for his prescription. Doctor Bliss scowled and swatted him on the wrist. Saliva greatly softened the soothestone, but until then it was harder than diamonds.

"Don't you dare pick at that scab again, Sal!" warned Bliss. She prodded his bulbous nose with the soothestone. Bliss was legendary for her forceful treatment of return customers. "If you come back and that same arm is injured because it itched, I'll treat it the old fashioned way: Seviper spit!"

Sal gulped and grabbed the soothestone. "I-I promise, ma'am! Won't happen again!" He lumbered towards the door. "Eh, I'll pay your receptionist on the way out?"

Bliss shook her head. "No need. You get back to the mines and you make Overseer Notch proud. That will be my payment."

Sal nodded and ducked under the doorframe to exit. Bliss strictly (and sometimes violently) enforced her policy of never charging miners or police officers. They were the men and women who kept the town going strong, and it was the least she could do to repay them. Aside frm healing their wounds of course.

Aline fluttered from the counter to the windowsill as Bliss made her way back to the medicine cabinet and took inventory.

"You should've handled that case, dear," said Bliss, stacking a few glass bottles.

Aline bit her lip and rubbed her front two legs together. "Well…I don't know. I don't think I'm ready."

"Ha! On the contrary, my dear. I fear you'll soon surpass even my healing skills!" It was true that the Vibrava didn't give herself enough credit: she simply understood how to heal. That was all it really came down to.

Every species of Pokémon is different from the last, and every member of every species is unique. Having solid methods of dealing with every sickness or injury for every one, and being able to practice them all is a far cry of a demand for anyone to handle.

But Aline was always in control. She always knew what to do, even when Bliss had to double-check. All the girl needed was a shot of self-confidence and she'd be golden.

_If only that came in a syringe_, thought Bliss.

Aline was about to speak when a furry purple form burst through the window. He took her place on the sill, knocking the surprised Vibrava onto the ground. Her wings beat rapidly as she tried to get back up.

"Tac!" she hissed at the Aipom. "What's the big idea!?"

The mischievous monkey snickered and revealed the jar of brown powder in his tail hand. "Got that Weepinbell Root you were looking for, doc." Tac tossed the mordant doctor the jar whilst she rolled her eyes.

"Unceremonious as ever, Tac." Tac and Aline had arrived in town as a package deal: the two had helped each other survive, and Bliss respected that. The both of them found their way into the employ of the town clinic, Aline for her medical talents and Tac because of his lack thereof.

And by "lack thereof," Bliss meant any talent. Tac really showed no prowess in anything, and so he just became her errand Pokémon.

"Hey, doc, there was a pretty big group of Pokémon headin' this way. Had a few wounded with 'em too."

This was no breaking news to Bliss: parties of Explorers or just downright thickheaded Pokémon wound up wounded in droves at her doorstep daily. "They'll find their way."

"I'm sure they will. Couldn't have been any normal adventure."

"Why not?" asked Aline.

"Team Aegis was with em."

Bliss stopped dead. Out of her hand slipped the jar of Weepinbell Root, which shattered on the floor.

"Aline, get my medkit."

…

"I'm beginning to wish that you picked something simple like gold."

Since arriving back home at Quarrysville, the adventure party speedily rushed their wounded to the clinic. The meds had reported everyone in a stabilized condition, including Team MAX's own Mo.

Said Snivy now currently shared a recovery room with Jerry, adding the group of Syamo, Takeru, and Arthur to the visitors.

Josh had wanted to thank Team Aegis for all they had done, but the three simply…vanished the second Josh took his eyes off of them. Perhaps they'd meet again someday.

Team Dazzle had gone to the Federation HQ to officially add Didi and Flair to their roster, and Para-Dox had gone as well to do the same for Team MAX. Ricardio had some business in town. What it was he did not say.

Mo was examining the book and the card, both of which puzzled him equally. Mo had never been particularly bookish, but he was well read. Still he had not the slightest inkling on how to translate the runes.

"Sorry, buddy," said Josh, hanging his head. "Looks like I goofed on this one, too…"

Mo smiled and tapped his friend's shoulder. "Hey, relax. My dad always had this saying he'd tell me over and over again. He said 'More trouble, more worth.' The more we have to go through to crack this code, the better the reward. Don't worry: I know a guy in town who can help us."

Amber hopped up onto Mo's bed and toddled across. "Um…Mister Syamo?"

"Huh?" he asked over his shoulder. "What is it?"

"What will you do next? Now that you're here?"

Syamo gestured behind him to Arthur and Takeru. "These knuckleheads and I are…I can't believe I'm saying this…we're discussing forming a team."

"To kick some butt!" cheered Takeru with a fist pump. Syamo stared him down.

"For mutual benefit. To get a little payback at a certain Fearsome Four." Syamo turned back around and leaned forward. "_And we still haven't decided yet._"

Takeru gulped and stat back down. Syamo relaxed back into his chair. "But before that moment, _if _it comes, I'll be working you yahoos to the bone. Next time the Freakish Four show their ugly mugs, I expect you to give them a thorough pounding."

"What do you mean?" asked Arthur with a nod of the head.

Syamo grinned. "I'll be taking you to the Old Master. The Pokémon who taught me how to fight."

Takeru's eyes sparkled. "Wow! We get to train with the guy who taught your!? This is gonna be _great_!"

Exhilaration flowed through the Dewott like a wild river. He grabbed onto Arthur's shoulders and shook him wildly. "Do you have any idea what this means!?"

Arthur's cheeks turned a touch green. "That I think I might hurl…?"

Team MAX enjoyed a private little laugh as a long neck poked through the doorframe.

"Kid?"

Amber turned around and shrieked with glee. "Brute!"

"Kid!" The Tropius giddily ran to meet her, but then reared and raised his head higher. "I mean uh, erm…how are you?"

"Drop the act, you son of a suaropod!" squeaked Amber as she nuzzled Brute's leg affectionately. He couldn't help but blush as he watched the fluffy down on his leg.

He received some odd stares from everyone else in the room. "What!? What are you looking at?" Brute rolled his eyes. "Alright, c'mon kid. The Commander wants a talk with your Squirtle pal."

"Huh?" Brute nudged her out with his head.

"C'mon. I'll explain on the way."

The Tropius lead Amber away, and in came Commander Bishop, hands clasped behind his back. He nodded to Syamo, who acknowledged with a nod of his own. Josh theorized that they knew each other.

"So you're this human I've heard so much about," he said down at Josh, who nervously nodded.

"I'm going to keep this dreadfully short. This world is changing, and fast. War, as we have recently found out, is the least of our concern compared with what is to come.

"I'm inviting you to join me and another like you, as well as several others in a task force commissioned to cease these threats. We feel that your involvement is imperative to our success."

Mo would usually have a snarky response to such an ambiguous offer, but he decided to keep his nose out of this one. It was all Josh.

"Wait, Commander…you said someone 'like me.' What did you mean?" If Josh had apparently come to this world to save it, he wasn't about to say "No" to an invitation to a proactive fighting force.

Bishop nodded. "Clairice?"

In through the door came a creature not too unlike Brute. She was smaller, however, with a shorter neck and a shorter body. Ringing her shoulders was a crest of leaves, as was one on her head.

"She isn't a Squirtle," observed Mo, "She isn't even part of the evolutionary line. She's a Bayleef."

On the desk in between Mo and Jerry's beds rested Jerry's broken compass. It began to glow brighter and brighter.

"No," said Clarice. She seemed to be studying Josh quite closely, a hopeful glint in her eye. The same sparkled in his. And he wasn't exactly sure why. "I'm not just a Bayleef."

_"I'm a human."_

* * *

**Dun dun duuuuuuuun! When will we find out more about this other human? Not for a while, because we're staring a new story arc and I'm evil! MWAHAHAHAHAHA! **

**But seriously, we'll be taking a break to review the adventures of some old OCs (remeber Green Thunder and Valor?) as well as introduce some new ones. Don't worry, Team MAX and all of their pals will be back faster than you can say "Mega Blastoise is the greatest and everyone knows it."**

**Anyway, the dark past of Syamo's people has been revealed, Josh and the rest have been invited to join the task force, Syamo will be taking his new teammates to train with his old master, and SO MUCH MORE! You guys've got something to look forward to next time we rreturn to Quarrysville. So sit tight and enjoy the next arc!**

**BTW, I don't remember the owner of the OCs Tac and Aline, and I'm SUUUUPER SORRY. Like, Mega Sorry. My sorriness Mega Evolved. So please speak up and I'll make sure everyone knows who made these two awesome OCs.**

**Also, I've launched a new little story called "Pokemon Gold and Silver: Will's Adventure." Why not check it out?**

**Morgan Freeman: I, Morgan Freeman, recommend the reading and reviewing of both stories.**

*****TRAINERNAPS DOES NOT KNOW THE OPINION OF MR. MORGAN FREEMAN. HOWEVER, HE IS POSITIVE THAT MR. FREEMAN IS A GREAT GUY*****

**Cya next time!**


	20. Chapter 20: A New King in Town

**Last time on Explorers of Destiny:**

**Our first story arc came to a conclusion as the brave warriors returned victorious to Quarrysville. All seemed well and good until Commander Bishop returned with disturbing news. After inviting Team MAX to join the task force, he introduced Josh to a Bayleef named Clarisse...who was also apparently a human...**

**But that's not important right now! We've got a new story arc (albeit a shorter one) with the return of some old OCs and the coming of some new ones! Specific to this chapter, one from Pixy Noxx. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Blasted…meddlesome…inferior…substandard…mud dwelling…CURS!"

Zekka had spent months, _months_, accumulating all the monpower, resources, and favors it took to sneak around under Sehren's radar and carve out that tiny little empire of his.

And in minutes it had all gone to naught. All thanks to those meddlesome Explorers and their human.

Yes, Zekka hadn't left without something of value. After the arrival of Team Aegis, Zekka had turned tail to hide and metaphorically lick his wounds. The Beedrill had doubled back for quick, clean assassination or two just for vengeance sake, inflicting as much damage as possible only to retreat in the confusion.

He decided against it once he saw what the Kabutops had done to one of his minions. But he had remained long enough to hear an important little secret. One he was sure could have its uses in the future.

And right now it pained him to think it. All he had left was his life and a secret. Possibly whatever crumbs left of his coup.

That old police saying, "Crime doesn't pay" came to mind. Although Zekka had his own interpretation. Crime yields some pay, but if you're not careful it can disappear very quickly if not invested correctly.

For now, all Zekka could do was return to Cimicè, Sehren's territory, and check what remained of his "investment." Rumor had it that Sehren was in another land on business.

And when the Delcatty is away, the Rattata will play.

Zekka let out an exhausted hiss. His wings were aching after hours upon hours of flying. He would soon reach Cimicè airspace, and wished to get as far as possible whilst airborne before having to fly under the radar.

Which basically translated to not flying at all. While an individual Drone could be felled by just one of his Poison Stings, an entire legion would most likely overwhelm him. If he was on the ground, and a Controller did not spot him, he'd be fine.

Zekka could tell he was nearing No-Mons land, the buffer zone between Sehren's empire and those beyond. Trees were beginning to become few and far apart. Grass turned from dusty green, to brown, to grey, and then to nonexistence.

Of course, that was all ahead of him. Also ahead was the rosy lights of fletching dawn peeking over the horizon; the sun would soon rise.

Zekka didn't want to take any risks. A little rest would do him some good, and it was better to do it now when there was still cover to do it in. A Drone patrol catching him napping on the hillsides would not be very pleasant for anyone.

Zekka banked towards the ground, his beating wings nipping at a few leaves and thin branches. As he neared the forest floor, Zekka turned himself feet first and dropped the last five feet.

And then there was silence. Once the beating of his wings cut out, it was quiet. Deathly quiet. A single breeze whispered through the trees.

_Shouldn't have too much trouble falling asleep here…_ thought Zekka. The Beedrill surveyed his surroundings. Activity was about as present as sound. Perfect for a quick nap.

Over to his right was a dark green bush, one that Zekka was familiar with. This particular species of shrub was notoriously soft and comfortable. It was the bedding of choice for many forest dwelling Pokémon.

"I've come for you, Zekka…"

Inches away from the bush, Zekka flipped around towards the direction of the phantom voice. Both of his needles remained were primed and at the ready. "W-ho goes there!?"

"Lord Sehren does not take betrayal lightly…" Out of the bushes crept a small cloaked figure. Their hood prevented any indication of who the Pokémon was.

"Sehren has no power here…" growled Zekka, taking a step back. "And soon, nowhere. I will eventually be his undoing." His needles spun and clicked. "But I suppose for now, I can settle for you…"

The cloaked figure laughed manically. "Hilarious. Do you really think you could face me!? I am the Extinguisher of Empires! The Crusher of Civilization! The Killer of Kings! I am death! I…am…"

The Pokémon threw off their hood, revealing a round pink head with long, fluffy ears. "-Clara!"

Dumbfounded, Zekka slowly lowered his needles. The two stood in relative silence for a moment.

_Good, _thought the Skitty, _Let him soak in his fear…it will marinate well with his cowardice!_

Zekka's antennae twitched. And then he burst out laughing. "ZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Th-that's rich! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Zekka had seen a lot of things that made him laugh. A great deal of them had been those "brave" few who absolutely loved their little valiant and inspirational speeches. Killing them was entertaining.

But this…_this_…absolutely took the cake! Either Sehren was severely low on his recruiting quota and was paying off every bounty hunter he could scrape up, or the emperor had known how much Zekka would enjoy this joke.

Clara's eye twitched. How could this insolent insect mock her like this!? What kind of insanity does it take to laugh in the face of death!?

"S-stop laughing! I am the mighty Clara! I am-"

"Killing me!" chuckled Zekka. He fell onto his back in a fit of rampant laughter, rocking back and forth.

"Th-that's the plan!" Clara growled and spread herself out. "Your insolence ends now! Prepare to face my SOLARBEAM!"

The wind whistled through the forest. Nothing else of great importance really happened.

Zekka looked up at the sky, and then back at Clara. "Y-you do realize that it's nighttime."

"Yes," snickered Clara. Her tail swished back and forth. "Which means, sadly, you won't be able to see the sun when you die. I know you Bug-Types have a certain affinity for that."

Zekka facepalmed (or, faceneedled rather). "No, imbecilic. No day means no light. No light means no Solarbeam."

"Oh…ooooooooh!"

Zekka hissed and shook his head: he had had enough of this. As he suspected, Zekka was still faster and quicker than Clara despite her boating. The Skitty couldn't even follow him as he zipped straight into her face.

He had appeared like flash before Clara's eyes, and before she could even gasp in surprise a swift kick to the jaw had sent her into a nearby tree.

Clara dangled by her tail, which was stuck in the bend of a branch. Her tiny arms and legs flailed helplessly as Clara cursed.

"You insolent insect! I am the Scourge of Nations! The destroyer of armies. I AM-"

"Shaddap," Zekka replied curtly. "I'm tryin' to take a nap…"

The Beedrill hovered back to the soft bush he had and patted it with his needle. Deeming it fit for bedding, Zekka plopped down on his back and shut his eyes.

"Do not ignore me! I will-"

"QUIET!"

…

Tropical vacations were usually very pleasant and relaxing excursions. At least that's what Sehren had heard. His current expenditure was focused mainly on business, and all of the parts that weren't were still unpleasant.

The Steamy Jungle had the perfect climate for the average Bug-Type: hot, muggy, and full of foliage. Sehren enjoyed it to a certain degree. His Steel subtype made it a bit unbearable after a while, however.

Sehren resolved to try and keep this visit short.

Flanked by his personal guard, the Black Blight, Sehren proceeded through the hanging wooden city of Tartarus' capitol. And although he hated the ape with every fiber of his being and was currently plotting to dethrone him, Sehren had to admit the city was quite impressive.

Hanging walkways made out of logs and thatched together with vines connected each wooden platform to the other. Every tree connected usually had a main platform containing a building or many buildings and could go up or down for many kilometers thanks to ladders and planks.

Tartarus' palace was wrapped around the upper canopy of one of the largest trees in the rainforest. It was a great and elegant structure (nowhere near that of Sehren's palace) but compared to the rest of the municipal was quite spectacular.

The fortress was constructed out of blackwood, a substance almost a tough as tempered steel. Given its high elevation, tree cover and buildup, Tartarus' palace was of great strategic value.

Still it wasn't out of admiration that Sehren planned not to attempt at damaging the real estate. It would be very difficult, not impossible but difficult, to crack open that fortress militarily. Despite that it would still be counterintuitive to his position in the Alliance.

Instead Sehren would use a different form of warfare. One that he had come to appreciate as a whole separate monster. Where one was fought with claws and teeth, this one was fought with parchment and words.

Sehren A'Terius had a very intricate, very diabolical plan. And once it came into fruition (and it would) the Steamy Jungle would never be the same.

The Scizor and his guard took a left at an intersection platform. The only bridge of three that was left down had been the one that brought the Bug-Types here. The east and west bridges lead to noble quartering. The north lead to Tartarus' palace.

There was a rustling in the trees above. The Blight guards, an Escavalier, a Scyther, a Durant and a Heracross all adopted fighting stances and prepared to shield Sehren from any attack with their bodies. If any of them remained when the attack was over, they would launch their own. Assuredly far more vicious than the former.

Sehren grinned, amused. It was almost funny how quickly the black helmed guards had become zealots, with Sehren as their idol. True, he had taken each of them for his personal entourage due to their skill, but the Blight was a symbol as well as a squadron, its purpose to show Sehren adversaries that even the mightiest of the Bug-Type races bowed to him, or soon would.

But amusement also stemmed from the fact of Sehren knowing that they knew the noise had come from Tartarus' guards, and all the same prepared to attack. Such devotion would have to be rewarded.

"Lord Sehren," said a Vigoroth in the branches above. Strapped to his back with vines was rotting leather torso armor with Tartarus' insignia on it: a grey fist. Assorted throughout the many open branches of the tree were several more Vigoroth and assorted other simians: Mankey, Aipom, Pansage, and even a few Primeape.

"Well, here I am," said Sehren, spreading his arms. "Next I visit him, should I tell your master that you act solely on assumptions and not facts? _Especially _in the face of a superior and a guest?"

The Vigoroth shuddered, obviously intimidate, and coughed into his fist. "I apologize, my lord. I was simply taking the proper precautions, and I-"

Sehren waved a claw. "Oh, yes yes, regulations and whatnot. Just drop the bridge."

"He could just fly there," mumbled a Chimchar high up in the tree. He thought himself safe from Sehren's eyes and ears at that elevation.

He had thought wrong.

It had nearly been considered teleportation, the rate which the Blight Escavalier was up on that very same branch, lance pointed into the ape's throat. In an instant the Chimp Pokémon went from an loudmouthed punk to a sniveling coward, unsure whether his life would extend past the end of the minute. Whimpering, he back against at trunk of the tree as the Escavalier's cold lance threatened to pierce him.

"You will pay for your insolence…" growled the warrior. The Chimchar whimper and looked away.

Down at the platform, Sehren sighed. _Why does everything have to be such an ordeal? _"Let him go. He isn't worth it."

The Escavalier snarled at his prey, and then leapt back down. The Vigoroth shook off the stunned expression and began to ascend the tree. "I-I'll drop the gate…"

_Better you do_, thought Sehren, _I have enough planning to do as it is. The last thing I need is another delay. I'd have to expend a great deal of favors to hide your bodies…_

…

"You know, this is actually beginning to annoy me," growled Zero. The Sceptile lopped yet another tree branch in half with his arm blades thus allowing his company passage through. Although the Spectacle was accustomed to and felt at home in dense forests, traveling through this one was a pain in the neck.

If the instructions provided by Trix were correct, than this was the only way to get to her home. Perhaps they could've taken a main road and _then _made the trek into the dense rainforest, but that would've meant even more travel for about the same amount of work. So Teams Green Thunder and Valor decided simply to (no pun intended) cut their losses and proceed as directed.

Towards the back of the group, Beauty slashed apart a thicket of vines with her needle thin yet razor sharp claws. Glowering, the Purugly examined her nails.

"What a shame. I just had those manicured…" The Purugly shrugged and retracted her claws. "Oh well. I suppose I'll just have to hang back and-"

"Glenda…" cautioned Blitz. Beauty let out a gurgling purr. She knew that her team leader meant business when he addressed her little known name.

The Jolteon spat out another couple of leaves. Blitz had no claws or talons unlike most of the others, and was left to bite and chew his way through leaves and branches. Twigs and leaves were getting stuck in between his chompers. He was pretty sure that the warm sensation he felt driveling down his mouth was that of his gums bleeding.

"Listen, we're all very tired. But we're going to have to persevere if we want to reach that little girl's home and save her people. The ends will make the means all worth it."

Zero nodded. "Well put."

"Still, I don't see why we don't just do this the easier way," Glenda purred to the two leaders. "Between your Energy Ball, Blitz and Reezu's Electric-Type attacks, and my Shadow Ball, we could blast through this jungle in no time."

Up in the trees, Flick sighed. "That would be nice…" The poor Swellow was probably getting the rawest deal out of everyone present. He couldn't fly in the thick forest, so he was restricted to hopping from branch to branch. In general as a Flying-Type, Flick was unused to not being able to spread himself out and let his muscles relax, making this ordeal even more taxing on him.

What was more, aside from his talons, his only method of cutting through the brush was his Air Slash attack. Flick had to restrict the attack to a shorter range, which was very hard on his wings, because as Reezu was about to explain…

"We do not want to be noticed," said the stoic shiny Luxray. "Stealth is our greatest ally at this point. We know not how numerous our enemy is, but it is almost a given that they have scouts to warn them of oncoming warriors such as us. We also do not know how far their perimeter extends. To the better of our knowledge, it could be no more than a several meters away. Perhaps even less."

"Forget stealth!" cried Flick. "Stealth can suck eggs! My wings are _killing _me!"

Reezu snarled. "Are enemies will be exploiting the very same opportunity if we continue to _complain _about it as well. You're an Explorer. Toughen up."

"Oh, ho-ho-ho! Don't make me come down there, shiny boy!" Flicks feathers ruffled; a sign of his people that he was ready and rearing to fight. The motion was usually used when trying to attract a female, the only one present being Beauty, but Flick was sure that a great many fine feathered females would swoon over the heroic tale of Flick besting a crabby Luxray.

"I would much prefer it if you returned to ground level," Reezu said coolly, turning his back on the bird. "There's more work to do down here."

"Oh, _that's it_! I-"

"Sh!" hushed Zero with a claw to his lip. "Did anyone hear that…?"

"Are you referring to the magical sound of Flick shutting the heck up?" purred Beauty with a grin. She looked up to catch Flick's disdainful look and smiled back.

Blitz shook his head. "No…I heard it too…" Everyone began to scan the forest for signs of activity.

If this had been any normal forest, Zero would've been able to turn any supposed advantage of his adversaries to an advantage for them. Surprise attacks could be reversed. Traps sprung on the trappers. The forest was a Sceptile's home turf.

But not a rainforest. There was just…the only way to describe it was that there was too much stuff. Plain and simple. In the forest that Zero had lived in for most of his life, there had been trees, leaves, rocks, logs, moss, bushes, and that was pretty much it.

In this forest, every tree had more accessories than a Delibird had in its sack. Each trunk was dotted with ten types of vine, eleven types of moss, and twenty types of everything else. Everything was packed together like some sort of military ration. If this forest were to be stripped bare, it could feed and supply an entire nation for decades.

Blitz was experiencing the same sensation of blindness. There were too many sounds for his ears to hear and too many smells for his nose to smell. Everything was wet, and that water was constantly dripping from leaf to leaf, branch to branch, before finally landing in a puddle on the ground.

But the two had sworn something was standing out in this jungle. Something wicked this way came.

Reezu looked about inquisitively, scrutinizing every single plant or rock. "I sense something, too. Is it…Feral?"

"I smell nothing," said Beauty. "Perhaps it was just the breeze?"

Zero shook his head. "No. I'm cold blooded; I would've sensed the sudden change in temperature. That is _if _a breeze of any consequence could make it this far into the jungle…"

"Oh, you'll be feeling _consequence_…" hissed a voice coming from the jungle. Everyone quickly sharpened their stances.

The leaves and bushes all around began to shake. Claws scarped and mandibles clicked. A hiss or a chuckle weren't too far apart.

Zero tried to follow the source of each noise, but found his head only zipping back and forth between targets. "Reezu, any idea how many?"

"No," growled the Luxray, "But I'd have to guess numerically more than us. While surprises may come in different packages, we're all in our final forms. No numerically inferior force would attack us that way."

"What if they're stronger?" asked Flick. Increased rustling in the brush above had spooked him down to the ground. Better to be ready to fly than rendered unable to by a surprise attack.

"Then they'd have no reservations attacking us head on," answered Beauty, "My guess is that they're weaker, but in greater numbers. In a sneak attack, they won't risk overpowering us."

"We'll see who's the weakest yet!" cried another voice from the bushes. The area in front of Flick and Beauty began to stir with increased zeal. Everyone prepared for an attack in that direction…

The first came from behind. Whooping a strange yet melodic war cry, a scaly Kricketune flew out of the bushes, pincers spread. He caught Reezu by surprise just as the Luxray was flipping around and raked a pincer across Reezu's hindquarters.

"Augh!" Reezu roared in pain and bucked, kicking the Kricketune into a nearby tree trunk. The Cricket Pokémon slid down the trunk, whistling two sharp notes before falling unconscious.

Zero ran over to his wounded friend. That surprise attack had been a critical one: Reezu was wounded almost to the point of not being able to stand.

"Reezu!" The Sceptile fell to one knee and helped his friend keep balance. "Are you alright?"

"I'm…fine…" he growled, obviously lying. "I can…look out! Charge Beam!"

Jumping back just in time, Zero avoided the full effects of being up close and personal when Reezu fired his Charge Beam and zapped a Yanma out of the air. Zero had received a few sparks, but nothing to cry about.

"Here comes another wave!" cautioned Beauty. The Purugly hunkered down to the ground, ready to pounce.

Sure enough, a roaring war cry resonated through the forest wall. And then, like an avalanche of bodies, they came.

The shear amount of simian bodies assaulting the two teams was almost incalculable. The army of Pokémon had obviously done something like this before, for if they weren't used to it many surely would've been trampled.

"Open up!" cried Blitz, his fur bristling with electricity. "Give it everything you've got! Thunder!"

"Shadow Ball!"

"Air Slash!"

"Charge Beam!"

"Energy Ball!"

The five Explorers began to fire off their ranged attack at the wall of assailants like there was no tomorrow. At first it even seemed like the sheer drive and ferocity of the defenders would hold off the attack.

But they just kept coming. It was like trying to fight a tsunami with pea shooters. An endless wave of invaders could not be held off forever.

And it was not.

…

The attack was over. The five strangers were unconscious on the ground, restrained by a string combination of vines and String Shots.

Tartarus' main army had retreated back into the jungle almost as quickly as they had come. Only a squad representing both of the rulers remained.

The simians stood off to the far end of the artificial clearing created by the battle. Two Scyther, the leader and second in command of Sehren's men, stood over the captives.

"I had them searched," said the second in command. He reached down to his hip and produced five Explorer badges, all representing the Platinum rank. "They're Explorers."

The captain grunted in response. "Lord Sehren specifically told us to be on the lookout for Explorers. It's like-"

"He knew they were coming." The second in command looked over to the squad of Tartarus soldiers. They were laughing and making a mockery of the battle, imitating the cries of pain that their opponents never let out. Pathetic.

"Indeed. He told us specifically to take them into his custody."

"But what about _them_," hissed the second with a point of his claw, "They will insist that _they_ are to take the prisoners of war. And when insisting does not work…they will attempt to convince us."

"I do not see how Tartarus' men can attempt to sway us or even forcibly take the prisoners," said the captain calmly. He looked to his second and nodded. "You saw it too. They were tragically killed in battle, leaving us the sole wardens of these captives. Therefore, we took them to _our _leader."

Etzik, the second in command, was quite sharp (again, no pun intended). He took to his captain's meeting immediately.

"It shall be done, sir."

* * *

**~In the jungle, the mighty jungle, Sehren makes his plot...~**

**That's right, Sehren is back and he's up to something! What are the details of his plan? Find out next time! Also, we've been introduced to Clara, the bounty hunter who may be...*snicker* a LITTLE bit overconfident!**

**Clara: Hey! I am the great destroyer of-**

**Yeah, yeah, yeah...don't worry, those puns wont be in SHORT supply! Erm...well...anyway...Team Green Thunder and Team Valor were on their way to help Trix's people, when all of a sudden...hit it, Admiral!**

**Admiral Ackbar: It's a trap!**

**What do they have to do with Sehren's plans? Stick around to find out!**

**Alright, this Author Note has gone on for long enough, and I still have stuff to go over. So listen up. Blah, blah, blah, new X and Y stuff, check it out. Adventure of Will, check it out. New OC acceptance...wait, what?**

**Alright folks, I need more warlords! Not really big ones, mind you, think a bit smaller than Sehren or his allies. Powerful Pokemon are taking what they can get, so send me in the nefarious leaders of rogue armies! What are their goals? Their affiliations and alignments Use the template from chapter 1, but alter it for any additional info you'd need to include. I'll only be accepting a few, so get em in quick.**

**Clara: Please get me down...I mean, erm, FEAR ME! AND REVIEW!**


	21. Chapter 21: The Makings of a Plan

**Last time on Explorers of Destiny:**

**Zekka makes his way back to Sehren's kingdom, to retreat back to the criminal underground and see what remains of his insurrection. However, he was interrupted by a very intimidating voice, belonging to a not-so-intimidating Skitty named Clara. After having a good laugh at the bounty hunter's expense, Zekka took her out of the fight with one move, and settled down for a nap. Meanwhile, Sehren began his supposed plot to take down Tartarus, which somehow involved the recent capture of Team Green Thunder and Team Valor. **

**What is he planning? The clues to his true intentions are revealed now!**

**New OC, this time from Slendie258! Enjoy!**

* * *

Respect: something a king knew a great many things about.

Sehren, as a king, of course expected it from all of those below him all of the time. Period. Sehren did not tolerate a lack of respect, and pitied those who couldn't understand that.

For if you can't respect something greater than you, how can you even respect yourself?

The fact that Sehren was not being afforded the respect that he so truly deserved at the moment was not bothering him. If his plan was to work, he would have to maintain a stiff upper lip and suffer through the blatant blasphemy and bring out a bit of his acting skills.

The foreign tyrant was now deep inside the interior of Tartarus' fortress. In the throne room to be exact. Sehren always knew he would one day stand there. And for the longest time, he had assumed it would be as the conquering hero accepting the surrender of the lesser ruler.

But somehow, however unexplainably it had happened, the stars aligned in such a way that a good for nothing dunce like Tartarus to come across enough territory and influence to make him a threat to Sehren in a number of ways.

War would be a very direct approach. But a war with such an army, however mediocre, would be impractical for a multitude of reasons.

Tartarus' army was enormous, and spread out evenly through his densely forested kingdom. It would most likely take years to break through to where Sehren stood now. His resources and focus were far more valuable elsewhere.

Not to mention the conflict it would cause within the Alliance. That would be a headache…

And so Sehren found himself temporarily humbled, as a means to cut the head off of the Ekans and knock off a good portion of his "To-Do" list.

The plan he and Ahz had crafted was absolutely ingenious. But it would require a certain higher degree of finesse than smashing through the walls would.

That part would come later. But at the moment, Sehren was confident in his ability to deliver on the more delicate parts.

Sehren strode down the lavish red carpet leading to Tartarus' throne. Every meter or so a duo of Vigoroth guards would stand in statue-esque stillness, spear in hand. Tartarus' honor guard.

Sehren could see right through their guise as if he were using Foresight. These Pokémon had absolutely no value as sentinels. The oaf Tartarus had picked them out of the pack without so much as batting an eye, solely for the fact of the vicious nature and reputation of Vigoroth.

The simple fact remained that while pretty to look at on a power and status symbol for Tartarus, they served absolutely no benefit whatsoever. A waste of space.

And Sehren did not tolerate wasting valuable space.

Reaching the end of the path, Sehren slowly dropped to one knee and bowed before the Slaking, leaning lethargically on his elbow.

"My lord," he said humbly. Sehren almost choked on the words.

Tartarus' eyes slowly widened. "A am intrigued. The great Lord of the East humbles himself before me." He let out a dull chuckle. "What manner of witchcraft is at play?"

"I am in your realm, am I not? Therefore, you are my lord," said Sehren, lifting his head

"_My lord_…heh heh…I like that…" Tartarus grinned and sat back in his great chair, amused as a child observing a new toy.

_Enjoy it while it lasts…_Sehren rose from his kneel and bowed slightly. He then continued with his purpose.

"My lord, I've come with a matter of importance. After of course I again say that your holdings never cease to amaze me. Only a king as great as yourself could possibly keep such control over such a large, verdant area." To add to the act, Sehren looked fancifully about the not-so-spectacular throne room.

It had a carpet and some nice mahogany arches. Whoop-dee-doo.

Tartarus nodded. "Indeed. It isn't that difficult, really. The peasants are kept pleased, and if they step out of line it is not beyond me to…remind them of who is the boss."

Tartarus let out a fit of booming laughter. In the moments that Tartarus' eyes were squeezed shut, Sehren allowed himself a distasteful grimace.

_Oh, you'll be receiving a wakeup call of the same caliber very soon…_

"Erm, quite, my lord," interrupted Sehren. "While my stay has been enjoyable, to say the very least…I have encountered a problem as of late."

"Problem? How could there possibly be such a thing," asked Tartarus, raising an eyebrow.

"I think I am aware as to what he refers."

Both Tartarus and Sehren looked to an open window, in which leapt a Simisage. It was Tarala, Tartarus' second in command.

In Sehren's opinion, Tarala was a much wiser and leader. He had guts, but his lack of a backbone made his loud mouth and fat ego an equally burdening combination.

In no way, shape, or form did Sehren consider Tarala a worthy adversary. They weren't even on the same level. No, they weren't even in the same _galaxy_. But a big mouth could cause big problems, and Sehren needed to be cautious.

"As the honorable Councilor Tarala will no doubt explain, there have been a series of incidents in and around the areas where my men and I are being quartered. Attacks have occurred over that last few nights, with my guards only barely able to scare them off."

Tarala glared angrily at Sehren. He knew that the silver tongued Scizor was up to something. What it was, he had no idea. But he knew it had something to do with Sehren's interpretation of Tartarus being a laid back lummox.

"Indeed," concurred Tarala in an attempt to steal the show back, "Furthermore, said attacks have spread to civilian lodgings in said area. My lord, I have reason to believe that-"

Donning a bewildered expression, Sehren gasped. "You dare blame _me _for these occurrences!? I find myself beyond words, my lord."

Tartarus grunted. "I apologize for Tarala's behavior, Lord Sehren," said Tartarus, growling at his assistant. "Step in line, Tarala. You speak to a superior."

"But I-" Angry as he was, Tarala realized the futility of his protests and stopped talking. _That wasn't even what I was going to say…_

"Continue, Lord Sehren."

"Thank you, my lord," said Sehren, beginning to pace. "I feel it my responsibility to not take advantage of your most generous hospitality; to ease the burden my housing has caused. Therefore, I humbly implore you to give my men regional control of the area. Evidence suggests that the attackers use mainly Rock, Electric, and even Dragon-Type attacks, suggesting mercenaries considering that my men have no such capabilities, and yours for the most part do not as well. If I am the target of these attacks, then I would like the privilege of snuffing them out for you, my lord."

Tarala jolted. _So that's what he's getting at!_

"My lord, I strongly caution giving such powers to a-"

"Finish that sentence, would you please?" implored Tartarus. Tarala gulped.

"Er…I mean…should we be so hasty in, eh…giving such responsibilities…"

"I will stop you there, Tarala. Sehren is our ally. If he wishes to sweeten his own welcome, then I say by all means let him." Tartarus smiled and waved at the seething Tarala to take a note. "Inform Commander Oakley that he is to move his garrison to Sector Seven. Lord Sehren will be taking over activities in Sector Three."

"I-It shall be done, my lord," said Tarala through gritted teeth.

Sehren bowed. "I thank you for this momentous opportunity to h-serve you whilst in your realm, my lord."

Sehren silently cursed himself as he executed the bow. He had almost said "Help you help me," instead of "serve you."

True, this day had been very productive. And if he seized it correctly, the profit would not cease to flow.

Sehren turned on his heel and proceeded out of the palace. Once out, he would proceed back to his quarters to conduct the day's next meeting.

…

"Ungh…where am I…"

Zero was hot, cold, and everything in between. The stone floor on which he was sprawled was icy cold. The lump atop his head was festering and hot. Not to mention the skull-splitting headache.

It was painful enough just to sit up. Zero deemed this position suitable for his current purposes: for if just sitting up made him this dizzy, standing would probably knock him out once again.

As his vision began to show only multiples of one of everything around him, Zero took due not of his surroundings. Or lack thereof.

Zero sat alone in a stone cell. There were no bars: only the dim outline of a door with a slot on top. The chill on his back suggested that night was creeping through a window.

There was not much else to determine from the empty, lonely cell.

Except, of course, that he was not alone.

"You talk in your sleep."

Zero tried to look over his shoulders, but his muscles cried out in fatigue and foiled him. Luckily (or unluckily, as he knew not their alignment) his cellmate crept around to the front of the cell in a semicircle.

It was a Delcatty, and a female at that. She had no features that really jumped out and distinguished her from the rest of her kind, save of course for the mud caked in her disorderly fur, as well as the cuts and bruises.

"You spoke of someone named 'Reezu.' I suspect that is your teammate?" asked the Delcatty as if carrying on a simple conversation.

"W-who are you?" asked Zero, rubbing his head.

The Delcatty paused for a moment, considering. "My name is Chrissy. At the moment…I fear that this is all I can tell you."

"How come!?" This spurted out in a more demanding fashion. Being trapped in a cell with no idea where he was, how much time had elapsed, and where his team was, it went without saying that Zero was a bit disoriented right now.

"For days I have been kept here," explained Chrissy. "I was brought as a gift from Sehren to Tartarus. I am a valuable prisoner of war. Though I believe there are other factors at play."

"Like?"

Chrissy's ears twitched. "With my extraordinary hearing, I have been able to overhear the guards' conversation. Tartarus has granted Sehren free reign of this wing of the prison. His argument was that since he brought me, it should be his responsibility to guarantee that I do not escape. Though I have heard the guards talking. They have been preparing for the addition of…several others."

"Us…" Zero whispered in disbelief. "He knew we were coming! So that plea for help…the Gentle Meadow…"

"Fell months ago," said Chrissy matter-of-factly. "I have no doubt that Sehren had his agents feed you those lies to lure you here…but for what reason, I have no idea. The most important thing right now though is-"

"Escape?"

Chrissy shook her head. "No. Figuring out _why _that is what Sehren wants."

"I'm not sure I follow you…"

"Think about it: why would all of your teammates but sent into different cells in pairs of two? To wonder of each other's wellbeing and to plot a rescue attempt, of course. But why? And why then pair the two of us?" Chrissy began to lick her paw.

Zero rubbed his head, now aching from fatigue _and _mental stressing. He usually left the dedicated reasoning and detective work to Reezu.

Figuring out whose footprint was whose while on a hunt had been hard. This stuff was far beyond Zero's pay grade.

"So the question is why does Sehren _want _us to escape…and so that keeps us in here wondering?" Zero raised an eyebrow, to which Chrissy supplied a thin lipped smile.

"I see you have reached our dilemma."

…

Sehren pushed aside the green and black curtains leading into the tree hut that he currently bedded within. It was marginally smaller than his usual living arrangements, but as a Bug-Type he was very comfortable in tight spaces.

Perhaps _one _thing that Tartarus did right…

"Are we on?"

Sehren rolled his eyes. He was not surprised by the sudden outburst of a low voice, rather the gall it took for the owner to speak before spoken to.

Down behind him dropped a Galvantula, a Crustle, and a Bagon. Upon seeing the last addition, Sehren cocked and eyebrow.

"A Bagon? Is that the best you can do?"

The skin of the blue Rock Head Pokémon began to bubble and simmer quite sickeningly. It began to fold in on itself and jiggled like gelatin, progressively turning pinker. Its face dissolved into a dopey, beady eyed grin.

"Sorry…" apologized Butch, "It's the only Dragon-Type I really got down…"

"Still, I must admire your cleverness. A Dragon-Type would surely through off any suspicion that I was involved." Casper nodded, accepting the complement.

"Thanks, boss. Your orders were clear enough: make some noise and get paid. And while I do have a few reservations about doing it sneakily…"

Rim bashed his claws together. "Sneaky stinks! I wanna crush some stuff!"

Sehren rolled his eyes. _If only a more respectable team could have performed as admirably as they in reporting the presence of the Torchic and the human…_

Team Nasty played an important role in Sehren's plan. After their successes in gaining him regional control of the area, they were no longer imperative, but Sehren was a Pokémon of his word.

He had promised riches and opportunity for their continued service. Riches would come directly from Tartarus' treasury. Opportunity would be the honor of aiding Sehren expand his empire.

"To answer your previous question: yes, we are…'on.' I have been given regional control of this area. Officially, I am now Magister of this district."

"Hooray!" cheered Rim and Butch, clapping. Casper rolled all six of his eyes and swatted both upside the head.

"Idiots!" he hissed. "Stop making us look bad in front of the boss!"

Rim rubbed his head. "Sorry…"

Sehren frowned. "Eh…quite." _The faster I get this over, the better…_ "Anyway, your job is to continue to hit and run strikes, now against my men. I will not require you to hold back against my people, as they will not be let in on the plans. However, as time progresses, your attacks will decrease in frequency as my men 'drive you back,'" Sehren said with air quotes. "From there, we will decide things."

He paused for a brief moment, and then remembered something. "Of course. Mr. Butch, could you please demonstrate that new transformation I requested you practice?"

Butch bowed. "On the double, your kingliness!"

Butch's buddy jiggled and rolled into a ball. It then began to form four legs at the bottom, propelling the mass upwards. As it went, the legs became slimmer and more elegant, as did the body.

A tail sprouted out the back, and a bubble began to form on the tip. An almost triangular head popped out from the shoulders, then splitting in half to form two large ears.

Finally, the fine details settled in. Color and texture turned the bubbling mass into a perfect likeness of a Delcatty.

Sehren grinned maliciously. "Perfect."

* * *

**Sehren's plan is on a roll, and it somehow involves Teams Nasty, Valor, and Green Thunder (not in that specific order). Oh, and Chrissy. What is she all about? And what IS Sehren's master plan. Now that he has become a Magister of Tartarus' territory, what will he do with his new influence Answers abound next time!**

**Also, you may notice a slight shortening in chapter length. Super big chapters are becoming a bit hard to manage, so I'm cutting down a bit! Sorry! I've just been busy as of late. And I've always preferred quality over quantity, so I hope it's no big deal.**

**Also, for you EA fans out there (my fanfiction, not the company) the long awaited next chapter is finished and shall be released tomorrow! Hope you guys check it out!**

**Well, that about covers it. Review, and I'll see you next time!**


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